Design and experimental validation of a cable-driven continuum manipulator and soft gripper.

In this investigation, a cable-driven continuum manipulator as well as its soft gripper are designed and developed. The continuum manipulator is made up of two sections, including nine threading plates and eight spring steels. The four cables from the top to the end drive the Section I to bend and deform. The other four cables from the middle to the end drive the Section II to bend and deform. The grasping force and the wrapping area are both considering into the topological optimization process of the soft gripper in order to get a satisfying grasping performance. Moreover, the experiment system including the continuum arm, the soft gripper, and the cable-driven control mechanism is developed. The grasping performance of the soft gripper and the motion control of the continuum arm are validated experimentally.