High-fidelity model of a Tendon-driven Eversion Growing (Vine) Robot Using SOFA-Framework
Date:
Soft robots that grow through eversion/apical extension can effectively navigate fragile environments such as ducts and vessels inside the human body. This paper presents the high-fidelity model of a miniature steerable eversion growing robot. We demonstrate the robot's growing, steering, stiffening and interaction capabilities. The interaction between two robot-internal components is explored, i.e., a steerable catheter for robot tip orientation, and a growing sheath for robot elongation/retraction. The behavior of the growing robot under different inner pressures is investigated. Simulations are carried out within the SOFA framework. The comparison demonstrates a mean absolute error of 10-20% between simulation and experimental results for curvature values, including catheter and sheath-only experiments and full system experiment. To our knowledge, this is the first work to explore high-fidelity modelling of a tendon-driven steerable eversion growing robot.