Enhancing the Workspace of Magnetic Continuum Robots Through Optimized Structural Design and Strategic Magnetization

Magnetically-actuated continuum robots (MCRs) have emerged as a focal point of research in the medical field. However, the limited workspace of these robots hinders their full potential. This paper presents two key contributions to enlarging their workspace. Firstly, an innovative 1- DoF MCR design is introduced, providing an almost 80° enhancement in workspace compared to conventional MCRs under constrained magnetic fields. A control scheme is proposed for this MCR, achieving a positional control accuracy of 0.59±0.43 mm. Secondly, a magnetic moment optimization algorithm is proposed to enhance the MCR's bending ability, further extending its workspace. The optimized MCR just needs a single magnetization process to achieve a maximum bending angle of 160.0°. The integration of these innovations results in at least a 78.8% increase in the MCRs' workspace, substantially broadening their potential applications.