发表机构
School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London（伦敦玛丽女王大学工程与材料科学学院）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
该研究提出一种多藤蔓软机器人架构，可在推进外部集成工作通道的同时实现近90度主动转向，有望应用于医疗等领域的导航与检测任务。
AI 中文摘要
软外翻机器人，又称藤蔓机器人，在导航与检测任务中受到越来越多的关注，包括微创医疗应用[1]。藤蔓机器人由一根向内折叠的薄、柔性、不可伸长的管构成，在加压时会外翻并向前生长。这种尖端生长特性使其能以最小的摩擦力进行导航，因此藤蔓机器人非常适合人体结肠等复杂环境[2]。尽管其固有的柔软性可使其被动顺应狭窄空间内的弯曲路径，但导航性能高度依赖环境相互作用，包括接触角和无约束展开材料的长度[3][4]。在乙状结肠等部位的急剧方向变化常会限制被动生长，需要主动转向。现有解决方案包括分布式人工肌肉[5]或专用的尖端转向机构[6]。此外，许多应用需要载荷输送，如传感器和工具[7][8]。在ERC协同项目EndoTheranostics中，这推动了可在生长过程中输送显微外科工具的藤蔓机器人的开发。此前的研究已在藤蔓主体内集成工作通道[8][9]，但这些方法会限制工具尺寸、引入摩擦力，并将与环境的交互限制在机器人尖端。本研究提出一种多藤蔓架构，其中两个藤蔓机器人通过软安装尖端与外部集成的工作通道耦合[10]。独立的藤蔓致动可在推进工作通道的同时实现主动尖端转向，且无需将工作通道嵌入藤蔓主体（图1）。实验表明，该机器人在生长过程中可实现近90度的急剧转向，凸显了该架构在各类医疗及非医疗应用中的潜力。
英文摘要
Soft eversion robots, also known as vine robots, have attracted growing interest for navigation and inspection tasks, including minimally invasive medical applications [1]. A vine robot consists of a thin, flexible, inextensible tube folded inward that everts and grows forward when pressurized. This tip-growth enables navigation with minimal friction, making vine robots well suited for complex environments such as the human colon [2]. While their inherent softness allows passive conforma- tion to curved pathways in confined spaces, navigation performance strongly depends on environmental inter- actions, including contact angle and the length of un- constrained deployed material [3], [4]. Sharp directional changes, such as those in the sigmoid colon, often limit passive growth and necessitate active steering. Existing solutions include distributed artificial muscles [5] or dedicated tip-based steering mechanisms [6]. In addition, many applications require payload delivery, such as sensors and tools [7], [8]. Within the ERC Synergy project EndoTheranostics, this motivates the development of vine robots capable of delivering micro- surgical tools during growth. Prior work has integrated working channels within the vine body [8], [9], but these approaches constrain tool size, introduce friction, and limit access to the environment to the robot tip. In this work, we propose a multi-vine architecture in which two vine robots are coupled to an externally integrated working channel via soft mounting tips [10]. Independent vine actuation enables active tip steering while advancing the working channel without embed- ding it within the vine bodies Figure 1. Experiments demonstrate sharp steering of nearly 90 degrees during growth, highlighting the potential of this architecture for versatile medical and non-medical applications.
CommentsHamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 2026
