A Multi-Contact-Aided Continuum Manipulator With Anisotropic Shapes

Cable-driven continuum manipulators have shown excellent benefits to work for endoluminal intervention. Demand of small diameter for confined anatomy limits the usage of multiple actuations, leading to limited DOFs and bending shapes. To address this problem, this letter proposes a multi-contact-aided continuum manipulator with anisotropic bending shapes. First, contact-aided compliant mechanisms ...