Developments and Control of Biocompatible Conducting Polymer for Intracorporeal Continuum Robots

International audienceDexterity of robots is highly required when it comes to integration for medical applications. Major efforts have been conducted to increase the dexterity at the distal parts of medical robots. This paper reports on developments towards integrating biocompatible conducting polymers into inherently dexterous concentric tube robot paradigm. In the form of trilayer thin structures, these micro-actuators produce high strains while requiring less than 1 volt for actuation. Fabrication, characterization, and first integrations of such micro-actuators are presented. The integration is validated in a preliminary telescopic soft robot prototype with accurate position control with trajectory tracking scenarios. Further, the micro-actuator is controlled for laser steering with displacements up to 5 mm. Our first developments aim towards intracorporeal medical robotics, with miniaturized actuators to be embedded into continuum robots