Workspace Boundary Estimation for Soft Manipulators Using a Continuation Approach

Considering a soft manipulator configuration, controlled via installed bounded actuators, this paper addresses the end-effector workspace estimation problem for such a soft robot. For this, the Discrete Cosserat method is adopted to deduce the mathematical model of soft manipulators, based on which a continuation method that accounts for simple and multiple bifurcation points to solution curves is developed to map its workspace boundaries. Difficulties encountered in calculating tangents at simple and multiple bifurcation points are studied, and an efficient solution is provided. Numerical simulations applied to planar and spatial soft manipulator configurations are presented to emphasize the validity of the proposed methodology.