Flexible Manipulator Control for Multi-Bend Endoscope Steering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscopes with multiple bendable portions require complex operations due to the difficulty in recognizing the relationship between the endoscope's direction and movement, leading to increased time and burden on physicians and patients during inspections or surgeries.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus that calculates driving amounts for bendable portions based on predefined movement patterns, allowing operators to perform simple operations to achieve desired movements, and includes amplifiers to compensate for positional errors and maintain consistent movement speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the number of bendable portions is increased to enable deep area insertion and wide-area observation, then the observation capability is improved, but the operability deteriorates due to complex movement patterns and difficulty in recognizing the relationship between operating direction and movement direction
Solution Approach 1:
The control apparatus pre-calculates and stores multiple movement patterns (first through fourth patterns) that define the relationship between operation amounts and driving amounts for each bendable portion. This preliminary preparation allows the operator to simply select a pattern and input an operation amount without needing to understand the complex kinematics of multiple bendable portions, thereby improving operability while maintaining wide-area observation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus acts as an intermediary between the operator's simple operation input and the complex multi-bendable-portion manipulator. It receives the operation amount, selects a movement pattern, calculates the appropriate driving amounts for each bendable portion, and outputs the control signals. This intermediary processing layer shields the operator from the complexity of controlling multiple bendable portions while achieving the desired observation area
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple bendable portions are operated to change the observation direction, then the directionality is improved, but the operation complexity increases and time required for inspection or surgery increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple movement patterns are pre-calculated and stored in the control apparatus, each pattern defining optimal driving amounts for multiple bendable portions to achieve different observation directions. When the operator selects a pattern and inputs an operation amount, the system immediately executes the pre-planned movement sequence, eliminating the need for the operator to manually coordinate multiple bendable portions and significantly reducing the time required for directional changes during inspection or surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus dynamically selects among multiple pre-defined movement patterns based on the operator's input, and dynamically calculates the driving amounts for each bendable portion according to the selected pattern. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to efficiently transition between different observation directions by leveraging pre-computed optimal paths, reducing the time required for directional changes while maintaining versatility
3Device complexity
If the camera is fixed to the insertion portion, then the structure is simplified, but the operability deteriorates because bendable portions still need to be manually operated to change observation direction
Solution Approach 1:
The control apparatus serves as an intermediary that receives simple operation inputs from the operator, selects appropriate movement patterns, calculates the necessary driving amounts for each bendable portion, and outputs control signals. This intermediary intelligent control system compensates for the fixed camera structure by automatically managing the complexity of coordinating multiple bendable portions, thereby maintaining ease of operation despite the simplified mechanical mounting structure
Data Source
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Figure 3
Figure 4(a)~5(c)
AI summary
The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for controlling a flexible manipulator including a plurality of bendable mechanisms via a control apparatus. The control apparatus includes a drive-mode selecting unit allows for the selection of a movement mode which may provide a bending movement, an angled view movement, or a remote center movement.