From Differential Geometry of Curves to Helical Kinematics of Continuum Robots Using Exponential Mapping

Kinematic modeling of continuum robots is challenging due to the large deflections that these systems usually undergone. In this paper, we derive the kinematics of a continuum robot from the evolution of a three-dimensional curve in space. We obtain the spatial configuration of a continuum robot in terms of exponential coordinates based on Lie group theory. This kinematic framework turns out to handle robotic helical shapes, i.e. spatial configurations with constant curvature and torsion of the arm.