STORM Lab researchers have published two new papers in the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics as part of the Seventh Edition of the Focused Section on TMECH/AIM Emerging Topics, presenting robotic technologies for navigation and intervention within challenging endoluminal environments.
The first paper, “Spring-Based Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots for Compact Modular Designs in Endoluminal Applications”, by Burak Ozdemir, Pietro Valdastri and James Chandler, presents a modular continuum robot architecture based on a compliant spring backbone and self-anchoring spacer disks. The design allows the robot’s segments and tendon arrangements to be reconfigured without redesigning the complete manipulator.
A two-segment prototype was developed for robotically assisted bronchoscopy. The robot has a minimum diameter of 4.2 mm and a 2.4 mm working channel for a miniature camera, light source, and biopsy tool. In bronchial phantom trials, it reached predefined targets with an average positioning error of 2.4 mm.
The internal spacer disks were manufactured using a Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) microArch S140 system. BMF has published a separate feature highlighting the role of microscale 3D printing in the development of the robot, available here: https://bmf3d.com/resource/continuum-robots-for-compact-modular-designs/
The second paper, “Inchiscope: A Modular Triple-Balloon Soft Robotic Endoscope for Navigating the Small Bowel”, by Jackson Williams, Charles DeLorey, Dominic Jones, Pietro Valdastri, James Avery and James Chandler, presents a 13 mm-diameter self-propelled soft robotic endoscope. The Inchiscope combines three anchoring balloons with two parallel bellows actuator segments, enabling locomotion, distal steering, and stable observation.
Experiments demonstrated anchoring forces of approximately 12 N, omnidirectional bending of up to 110°, and locomotion speeds of up to 11.4 mm/s in small-bowel phantoms.
Both studies were also presented at the 2026 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM).
Read the papers:
Spring-Based: 10.1109/TMECH.2026.3694222
Inchiscope: 10.1109/TMECH.2026.3694299