Making Concentric Tube Robots More Accessible: An Open-Source Platform with Easy-to-Source Components and Guided Learning Materials

Bonofiglio, Kalina

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Making Concentric Tube Robots More Accessible: An Open-Source Platform with Easy-to-Source Components and Guided Learning Materials

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Concentric Tube Robots (CTRs) are miniaturized continuum robots that are typically studied for their potential applications in minimally invasive surgery. Current research for CTRs is limited to a select few academic institutions that have existing laboratories and equipment for this type of research. There have been very few open-source or accessible designs for CTR systems, and the tubes themselves are often manufactured out of Nitinol, a super-elastic and expensive material. This thesis seeks to lower the barrier to entry into this field of research by providing a low-cost, open-source CTR research platform that is accessible to first year graduate students with a background in general engineering. The main contributions to this thesis are (1) a physical design for a full CTR, including BOMs and assembly instructions, (2) guiding materials to assist with learning challenging content, and (3) a user study that demonstrates the usability of our platform for early-stage graduate students.

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