The invention discloses a
variable stiffness pipe and a continuum
robot variable stiffness module, and relates to the technical field of continuum
robotics.The
variable stiffness pipe comprises a flexible inner
pipe and a flexible outer pipe arranged outside the flexible inner pipe in a sleeving mode, and a
phase change material and a flexible heat exchange device are arranged between the flexible inner pipe and the flexible outer pipe; the heat exchange device can exchange heat with the phase-change material and enable the phase-change material to be changed from a
solid phase to a
liquid phase, a flexible pipe is further arranged in the filling space, a plurality of hollow groove sets are formed in the pipe wall of the flexible pipe in a penetrating mode, the hollow grooves are filled with the phase-change material, the flexible pipe can be freely bent when the phase-change material is in the
liquid phase, and the flexible pipe can be bent when the phase-change material is in the
solid phase. According to the variable-stiffness continuum
robot, the
shear modulus resisting shear deformation under the
shear stress is converted into the compression modulus resisting compression deformation under the
compression stress, the stiffness of the variable-stiffness pipe can be improved, the variable-stiffness continuum
robot comprises the variable-stiffness pipe and a control mechanism, and the variable-stiffness continuum robot can be controlled by controlling the stiffness of the variable-stiffness pipe to change. And the
motion control module is matched to move towards the target position and control the surgical tool.