DESIGN OF A SHAPE MEMORY ACTUATED GASTROINTESTINAL INTERVENTION SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a prototype gastrointestinal intervention system based on an inchworm-type of mobile robot. The overall system is about 95 mm long and has a diameter of 15 mm. The modular design has three main parts: an extension and contraction part, a two degree of freedom bending part and a locking part. All these parts are to be actuated by shape memory elements. Main part of the paper will concern a modular actuator for realising bending motion. The design can be compared to a single vertebra, where a spinal column can be formed by stacking several elements. This design greatly facilitates the control as each element is controlled in a binary mode. The design takes into consideration the electromechanical interconnection of the different parts.