PhD Studentship in Soft Robotics; Stiffness and position control for flexible soft robotic manipulators

机器人技术已被证明在微创手术中具有作用，有可能改善患者的预后。目前，有一些外科机器人平台主导着市场。这些系统是多臂机器人设备，配备了手术工具，可以通过用户输入控制台进行远程操作。然而，尽管这些仪器具有“扭曲”的性质，但目前的机器人平台使用的是刚性或“笔直”的仪器。因此，接触重要部件仍然存在困难，机器人平台的潜力没有得到充分的开发。本项目的目的是开发一种新的软、刚度可控的机器人操作手，包括基于模型的控制方法。应用领域是微创外科手术。特别是，高度灵巧的程序创造了对开发新的外科工具的需求，以帮助外科医生工作，并随后改善患者护理。

Robotics has been shown to have a role in minimally invasive surgery with the potential to improve patient outcomes. Currently, there are a number of surgical robotic platforms dominating the market. These systems are multi-arm robotic devices equipped with surgical tools that can be operated remotely via a user input console. However, despite the 'wristed' nature of these instruments, the current robotic platforms utilise rigid or 'straight' instruments. Thus, there remain difficulties in accessing important parts and the full potential of the robotic platform is not exploited.The aim of this project is to develop a new soft, stiffness-controllable robotic manipulator including model-based control methods. The application area is minimally invasive surgery. In particular, highly dexterous procedures create demand for the development of new surgical tools to aid surgeons in their work and subsequently improve patient care.