SOFT TENTACLE_ROBOT FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY

Abstract

This paper considers a tentacle-robot composed of soft materials designed to provide similar motion capabilities as the octopus tentacle, in order to reach the surgical target in biological structures. The manipulator is composed of two or three identical tentacles, which can be controlled independently. The tentacles can bear multi-directional bending and the stiffening capabilities, like an octopus tentacle. The performances in terms of workspace, stiffening capabilities and generating forces are  numerical simulated. A major importance is given to constitutive laws of soft materials. The constitutive models for soft materials are continuum-based models with more-realistic details for behavior of  nonlinear elastic materials.