Clarke Transform and Encoder-Decoder Architecture for Arbitrary Joints Locations in Displacement-Actuated Continuum Robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a modified Clarke transform and an encoder-decoder architecture to handle arbitrary joint locations in displacement-actuated continuum robots, enabling flexible design and control transfer.

Contribution

It presents a novel Clarke transform formulation and an encoder-decoder framework that facilitate arbitrary joint placement and knowledge transfer across different robot designs.

Findings

The modified Clarke transform accommodates arbitrary joint locations.

The encoder-decoder architecture enables transfer of control strategies between different robot configurations.

Simulation results demonstrate effective control and trajectory generation for various joint arrangements.

Abstract

In this paper, we consider an arbitrary number of joints and their arbitrary joint locations along the center line of a displacement-actuated continuum robot. To achieve this, we revisit the derivation of the Clarke transform leading to a formulation capable of considering arbitrary joint locations. The proposed modified Clarke transform opens new opportunities in mechanical design and algorithmic approaches beyond the current limiting dependency on symmetric arranged joint locations. By presenting an encoder-decoder architecture based on the Clarke transform, joint values between different robot designs can be transformed enabling the use of an analogous robot design and direct knowledge transfer. To demonstrate its versatility, applications of control and trajectory generation in simulation are presented, which can be easily integrated into an existing framework designed, for instance, for three symmetric arranged joints.