抄録
This paper presents the first prototype of a pneumatically-driven forceps manipulator using a simple flexible joint for enhanced practicalities. A high performance spring component with wire actuation is employed for a two-degree of freedom (DOF) bending joint, and a two-DOF tendon drive system is implemented using four pneumatic cylinders. The kinematics is described using a continuum model and the dynamics are described as a linear elastic rod with the friction of wires. For the control system, a cascade controller with two control loops of the joint position and a pneumatic driving force is designed, which shows good performance at a sufficient working frequency for surgical operations. In addition, the forceps manipulator can estimate external forces using a disturbance observer. A link approximation model is introduced to design the observer for an intuitive approach. As the first step, the effectiveness of the force estimation is experimentally verified in the basic straight posture of the flexible joint.
