Continuum robots: an overview

In this paper, we discuss recent advances, current limitations, and open challenges in the design, modeling, and control of continuum robots. Thanks to their lean bodies, these robots achieve a long reach through narrow and tortuous environments, enabling currently unachievable tasks for medical, industrial, and service applications. The recent surge in research on these robots led to significant advances in design, modeling, and control methods. Here, we examine these developments with a comprehensive review of existing continuum robots and emerging technologies. We then compare modeling and control approaches, and examine navigation strategies exclusive to continuum robots, such as follow-the-leader, coiling, and circumnutation. Finally, we provide an overview of their applications with a focus on industrial and service tasks, outlining open research challenges and future developments