Magnetic Continuum Robots

Can a cable-driven continuum robot be controlled at multiple locations along its body using magnetic actuation?

The main limitation in existing cable-driven continuum robots is the inability to miniaturize and expand the dexterity by adding more cables at the same time. Thus, the merit of continuum robots for applications such as minimally invasive surgery or industrial inspection tasks is mostly unexploited today.

We envision a new approach to circumvent these limitations by applying wireless magnetic actuation methods from micro-scale robotics research to yield a robot significantly more dexterous and functional than existing continuum robots today. We will develop the mathematical models for such a novel system and build a first-ever prototype magnetic continuum robot.

This project is a collaboration between CRL and the Microrobotics Lab (Eric Diller).

Funding – XSeed Fund, September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2021
XSeed is a seed funding program of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and the Faculty of Arts and Science at University of Toronto to promote interdisciplinary research and to catalyze innovative partnerships.