Method and system for contact detection and contact localization along continuum robots

1. A method for collision detection along a continuum robot, the method comprising:

inserting a portion of the continuum robot into a cavity or operating the continuum robot among obstacles, the continuum robot including a plurality of independent segments;

detecting contact between the robot and a wall of the cavity or surrounding obstacles;

determining in which one of the segments of the robot the contact occurred; and

moving the robot such that the segment determined to be in contact with the wall of the cavity moves laterally out of contact with the wall of the cavity in real-time after contact with the wall of the cavity is detected without retracting the continuum robot from the cavity.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining whether contact between the robot and the wall of the cavity occurred in more than one segment of the continuum robot.

3. method of claim 2 wherein, if contact between the robot and the wall of the cavity occurred in more than one segment, determining a first segment and a second segment where the contact occurred.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising stopping movement of the robot when contact is detected.

5. A method for generating a constraint, the method comprising:

inserting a continuum robot into a cavity, the continuum robot including a plurality of independent segments;

detecting contact between the robot and a wall of the cavity and generating a contact data identifier;

determining in which one of the segments of the robot the contact occurred and generating a location data identifier;

generating a constraint based on the contact data identifier and the location data identifier;

moving the continuum robot such that the segment determined to be in contact with the wall of the cavity moves laterally out of contact with the wall of the cavity in real-time after contact with the wall of the cavity is detected without retracting the continuum robot;

removing the robot from the cavity; and

inserting a tool into the cavity based on the constraint.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising detecting whether additional contacts occurred between the robot and the wall of the cavity, and thereby generating additional contact data identifiers.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising detecting in which ones of the segments the additional contacts occurred, and thereby generating additional location data identifiers.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising generating a plurality of constraints based on the additional contact data identifiers and the additional location data identifiers.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising generating a map of the cavity based on the plurality of constraints.

10. A robotic system comprising:

a continuum robot having a plurality of independent segments; and

a controller in communication with the robot, the controller including a processor and a software program stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium accessible by the computer processor, the software program being operable to

determine whether the robot contacts a structure,

if contact occurred, determine in which one of the segments of the robot the contact occurred, and

automatically move the robot such that the segment determined to be in contact with the structure moves laterally out of contact with the structure without retracting the continuum robot from the cavity.

11. The robotic system of claim 10 wherein the software program is further operable to teach the robot controller to construct a virtual fixture.

12. The robotic system of claim 11 wherein the virtual fixture prevents portions of the robot from impinging against obstacles.

13. The robotic system of claim 10 wherein the software program is further operable to filter commands if contact occurs such that additional contact is prevented.

14. The robotic system of claim 12 wherein the commands protect at least two arms of the robot from impingement during telemanipulation.

15. The robotic system of claim 10 wherein the software program is further operable to explore a non-visible cavity such that the robot responds to contact.

16. The robotic system of claim 14 wherein contact provides the robot with cues for further exploration of the cavity.

17. The robotic system of claim 15 wherein the cues are used to generate a map of the cavity.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling movement and pose of the continuum robot using an external actuator,

wherein detecting contact between the robot and a wall of the cavity includes detecting when movement of the continuum robot is constrained by an external force, and

wherein determining in which one of the segments of the robot the contact occurred includes determining which specific independently controlled segment of the continuum robot has its movement constrained by the external force.