Control system for continuum robot and control method for same

A control system for a continuum robot including a curvable portion configured to be curvable when a wire is driven and a drive unit that drives the wire, the control system comprising:

• a kinematics computing unit configured to perform a kinematics computation for calculating a drive amount of the wire from a bending angle of the curvable portion with respect to a reference axis;
• a first drive control unit configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on a result of the kinematics computation;
• a second drive control unit with which the drive unit is more easily driven in a reverse direction than in a case of drive control performed by the first drive control unit when the curvable portion is subjected to an external force, the second drive control unit being configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on the result of the kinematics computation;
• a switching control unit configured to perform control to switch between the first drive control unit and the second drive control unit in accordance with a mode signal indicating a drive control unit to be selected or a result of detecting a force applied to the wire;
• and
• an inverse kinematics computing unit configured to perform an inverse kinematics computation for calculating the bending angle of the curvable portion from the drive amount of the wire, the inverse kinematics computation being a computation reverse to the kinematics computation,
• wherein the switching control unit is configured to perform, in a case in which a signal indicating the first drive control unit has been input as the mode signal while the drive control is being performed by the second drive control unit, control to switch from the second drive control unit to the first drive control unit when a difference between the bending angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the bending angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value.

A control system for a continuum robot including a curvable portion configured to be curvable when a wire is driven and a drive unit that drives the wire, the control system comprising:

• a kinematics computing unit configured to perform a kinematics computation for calculating a drive amount of the wire from a bending angle of the curvable portion with respect to a reference axis;
• a first drive control unit configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on a result of the kinematics computation;
• a second drive control unit with which the drive unit is more easily driven in a reverse direction than in a case of drive control performed by the first drive control unit when the curvable portion is subjected to an external force, the second drive control unit being configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on the result of the kinematics computation;
• a switching control unit configured to perform control to switch between the first drive control unit and the second drive control unit in accordance with a mode signal indicating a drive control unit to be selected or a result of detecting a force applied to the wire;
• and
• an inverse kinematics computing unit configured to perform an inverse kinematics computation for calculating the bending angle of the curvable portion from the drive amount of the wire, the inverse kinematics computation being a computation reverse to the kinematics computation,
• wherein the switching control unit is configured to perform, in a case in which a force within a predetermined range has been detected as the result of detecting the force applied to the wire while the drive control is being performed by the second drive control unit, control to switch from the second drive control unit to the first drive control unit when a difference between the bending angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the bending angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value.

A control system for a continuum robot including a curvable portion configured to be curvable when a wire is driven and a drive unit that drives the wire, the control system comprising:

• a kinematics computing unit configured to perform a kinematics computation for calculating a drive amount of the wire from a bending angle of the curvable portion with respect to a reference axis;
• a first drive control unit configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on a result of the kinematics computation;
• a second drive control unit with which the drive unit is more easily driven in a reverse direction than in a case of drive control performed by the first drive control unit when the curvable portion is subjected to an external force, the second drive control unit being configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on the result of the kinematics computation;
• and
• a switching control unit configured to perform control to switch between the first drive control unit and the second drive control unit in accordance with a mode signal indicating a drive control unit to be selected or a result of detecting a force applied to the wire,
• wherein the kinematics computing unit is configured to perform the kinematics computation for calculating the drive amount of the wire from the bending angle of the curvable portion and a turning angle of the curvable portion with respect to the reference axis,
• wherein the control system further comprises an inverse kinematics computing unit configured to perform an inverse kinematics computation for calculating the bending angle of the curvable portion and the turning angle of the curvable portion from the drive amount of the wire, the inverse kinematics computation being a computation reverse to the kinematics computation, and
• wherein the switching control unit is configured to perform, in a case in which a signal indicating the first drive control unit has been input as the mode signal while the drive control is being performed by the second drive control unit, control to switch from the second drive control unit to the first drive control unit when a difference between the bending angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the bending angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value and a difference between the turning angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the turning angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value.

A control system for a continuum robot including a curvable portion configured to be curvable when a wire is driven and a drive unit that drives the wire, the control system comprising:

• a kinematics computing unit configured to perform a kinematics computation for calculating a drive amount of the wire from a bending angle of the curvable portion with respect to a reference axis;
• a first drive control unit configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on a result of the kinematics computation;
• a second drive control unit with which the drive unit is more easily driven in a reverse direction than in a case of drive control performed by the first drive control unit when the curvable portion is subjected to an external force, the second drive control unit being configured to control the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on the result of the kinematics computation;
• and
• a switching control unit configured to perform control to switch between the first drive control unit and the second drive control unit in accordance with a mode signal indicating a drive control unit to be selected or a result of detecting a force applied to the wire,
• wherein the kinematics computing unit is configured to perform the kinematics computation for calculating the drive amount of the wire from the bending angle of the curvable portion and a turning angle of the curvable portion with respect to the reference axis,
• wherein the control system further comprises an inverse kinematics computing unit configured to perform an inverse kinematics computation for calculating the bending angle of the curvable portion and the turning angle of the curvable portion from the drive amount of the wire, the inverse kinematics computation being a computation reverse to the kinematics computation, and
• wherein the switching control unit is configured to perform, in a case in which a force within a predetermined range has been detected as the result of detecting the force applied to the wire while the drive control is being performed by the second drive control unit, control to switch from the second drive control unit to the first drive control unit when a difference between the bending angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the bending angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value and a difference between the turning angle of the curvable portion input to the kinematics computing unit and the turning angle of the curvable portion output from the inverse kinematics computing unit is equal to or smaller than a threshold value.

A control method for a continuum robot including a curvable portion configured to be curvable when a wire is driven and a drive unit that drives the wire, the control method comprising:

• a kinematics computing step of performing, by a kinematics computing unit, a kinematics computation for calculating a drive amount of the wire from a bending angle of the curvable portion with respect to a reference axis;
• a first drive control step of controlling, by a first drive control unit, the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on a result of the kinematics computation;
• a second drive control step of controlling, by a second drive control unit with which the drive unit is more easily driven in a reverse direction than in a case of drive control performed by the first drive control unit when the curvable portion is subjected to an external force, the drive amount of the wire being driven by the drive unit based on the result of the kinematics computation;
• and
• a switching control step of performing control to switch between the first drive control unit and the second drive control unit in accordance with a mode signal indicating a drive control unit to be selected or a result of detecting a force applied to the wire,
• wherein a drive control by the second drive control unit includes a control to compensate an error between a target value and a detected value of a displacement of the wire and a control to compensate an error between a target value and a detected value of a force applied to the wire, and
• wherein the target value of the force applied to the wire is calculated based on the error between the target value and the detected value of the displacement of the wire.