Articulating arm for positioning a tool at a location

A robot arm apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of longitudinal segments arranged sequentially along the arm, each of which segments being movable with respect to each other to define at least one of a serpentine path and a serpentine shape, in which each segment comprises a plurality of links arranged sequentially by articulations between the links, each link being movable in at least two dimensions with respect to adjacent links, wherein all of the plurality of links that comprise each longitudinal segment are substantially identical to one another;
• a work head carrier disposed at a distal end of said arm and adapted to carry a tool which is one of a work tool, an examination tool and, combination thereof;
• a controller for at least some of said segments to facilitate control of the shape of the associated segment such that different segments constituting the arm assume different shapes wherein the arm may advance longitudinally along an access path to present the tool at a location;
• wherein the spatial positioning of each segment can be controlled to enable the arm to follow a path to guide a mounted tool into a desired work position.

A robot arm apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of longitudinal segments arranged sequentially along the arm, each segment movable with respect to the others to define a serpentine path or shape, in which;
• each segment comprises a plurality of links arranged sequentially by articulations between the links, each link movable in at least two dimensions with respect to adjacent links, wherein each of the plurality of links comprise a longitudinal axis, and wherein the longitudinal axes of all of the plurality of links comprising each longitudinal segment are coaxial when each segment is in a rest position;
• a work head carrier located at a distal end of said arm adapted to carry a tool;
• a controller for controlling at least some of said segments to facilitate control of the shape of the associated segment such that differing segments constituting the arm may assume different shapes where the arm may advance longitudinally along a selected access path to present said tool at a location;
• and
• wherein the spatial positioning of each segment is controlled with the arm following a path to guide a work tool into a desired work position.

A robot arm apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of longitudinal segments arranged sequentially along the arm, each segment movable with respect to the others to define a serpentine path or shape, in which;
• each segment comprises a plurality of links arranged sequentially by articulations between the links, each link movable in at least two dimensions with respect to adjacent links, wherein all of the plurality of links comprising each longitudinal segment are moved simultaneously and to the same extent in each direction with respect to each other when each segment is moved;
• a work head carrier located at a distal end of said arm adapted to carry a tool;
• a controller for controlling at least some of said segments to facilitate control of the shape of the associated segment such that differing segments constituting the arm may assume different shapes where the arm may advance longitudinally along a selected access path to present said tool at a location;
• and
• wherein the spatial positioning of each segment is controlled with the arm following a path to guide a work tool into a desired work position.