Capturing Motion,
Crafting Stories

The team of Prof. Rongjie Kang from Tianjin University presented a continuum robot with integrated dual rotational degrees of freedom at IROS 2025. 

The designed robot features a rotational joint at the arm base for torsional compensation and another at the tip for full 6-DOF end-effector control. A proposed kinematic model and control framework enable real-time, simultaneous control of the position and orientation of the end-effector. Experimental results show that the base rotational joint can fully compensate for undesired torsional deformation caused by an external payload. In the path-tracking experiment, NOKOV motion capture system recorded the actual path, and the results demonstrate the ability of  the robot to perform complex operations. The valve-closing demonstration highlights its exceptional mobility. 

This research advances continuum robotics and broadens the applications in industrial maintenance, human-robot interaction, and confined-space manipulation.