Methods and apparatus for controlling a continuum robot

A robotic apparatus comprising:

• continuum robot including at least one bending section having a proximal end, a distal end, and a centroid along a longitudinal direction of the continuum robot;
• an actuator configured to manipulate the at least one bending section;
• a controller configured to issue control command to the actuator;
• a control input device in communication with the controller, and configured to accept control input for bending of the distal end from an operator,
• wherein the distal end has an end-effector coordinate that has an origin at the center of the distal end and two axes perpendicular to a centroid of the continuum robot and one axis parallel to the centroid,
• wherein the proximal end has a robot base coordinate that has an origin at the center of the proximal end and two—two axes perpendicular to a centroid of the continuum robot and one axis parallel to the centroid, and
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• store a current distal orientation vector based on the robot base coordinate,
• read the control input from the control input device by a time interval,
• determine a bending input vector from the reading of the control input based on the end-effector coordinate, and
• issue the control command based on the current distal orientation vector, and the bending input vector by the time interval.