Adaptive Bendpoint Formation in Octopus-Inspired Soft Continuum Arms

Engineering notes

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Chinese explanation / 中文解读

中文解读待补充：本站会优先为 VLA、具身智能、人形机器人控制、机器人操作等高价值论文补充中文说明。

Original abstract

Octopuses exhibit a powerful form of embodied intelligence from a highly adaptable soft body. One key mechanism is the ability to instantiate bending points at any location along the arm, which enables performant and dexterous behaviours. Taking inspiration from the octopus for its dexterity, this study focuses on changing the curvature of a tendon-actuated arm by adaptively changing the anchoring end-point along the arm. An array of inflatable shells is integrated into the arm, where inflating a shell causes an increase in friction at the location, jamming the tendon and creating a temporary new anchoring point. The novel soft actuator does not break the continuity of the arm between the actuated segment and the loose segment. Experiments show that the actuated segment has a non-constant bell-shaped curvature which is comparable to that of a real octopus arm during a reaching motion. Compared to conventional single-tendon continuum manipulators, the proposed design offers an expanded workspace and enhanced dexterity through the ability to independently shape different regions of the arm through selective curvature tuning. At the same time, it avoids the mechanical complexity typically associated with multi-segment, multi-actuator systems.

Links and sources

• Official / arXiv page
• PDF from original source

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