ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR

Orla Gotthelf; Yusra Farhat Ullah; Ronak Narkhede; Timothy M. Kowalewski

doi:10.1115/DMD2026-1076

ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR

Orla Gotthelf
, Yusra Farhat Ullah
, Ronak Narkhede
, Timothy M. Kowalewski

Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Soft robots have the potential to navigate tortuous pathways such as those found in human anatomy owing to their compliant nature and low risk of injury to soft tissues. However, their control is challenging due to the lack of reliable closed-form analytical models. Recently, kinematic-free control has been used to bypass analytical modeling. While online Jacobian estimation has been explored in various soft robot configurations, it has not been demonstrated in three-cable driven soft arms without backbones, particularly using computer vision and electromagnetic tracking for workspace exploration. This study addresses this gap by implementing online Jacobian estimation through workspace exploration in a three-cable driven soft arm through visual servoing and integrating an Ascension trakSTAR system for occlusion-free position feedback.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026
Publisher	American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Electronic)	9780791889435
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2026-1076
State	Published - 2026
Event	2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026 - Minneapolis, United States Duration: Apr 20 2026 → Apr 22 2026

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026

Conference

Conference	2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026
Country/Territory	United States
City	Minneapolis
Period	4/20/26 → 4/22/26

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 by ASME.

Keywords

Electromagnetic Tracking
Jacobian Estimation
Model-free Control
Soft Robotics
Visual Servoing

Publisher link

10.1115/DMD2026-1076

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Gotthelf, O., Farhat Ullah, Y., Narkhede, R., & Kowalewski, T. M. (2026). ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR. In Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026 Article V001T07A004 (Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026). American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2026-1076

ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR. / Gotthelf, Orla; Farhat Ullah, Yusra; Narkhede, Ronak et al.
Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2026. V001T07A004 (Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Gotthelf, O, Farhat Ullah, Y, Narkhede, R & Kowalewski, TM 2026, ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR. in Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026., V001T07A004, Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026, Minneapolis, United States, 4/20/26. https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2026-1076

Gotthelf O, Farhat Ullah Y, Narkhede R, Kowalewski TM. ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR. In Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 2026. V001T07A004. (Proceedings of the 2026 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2026). doi: 10.1115/DMD2026-1076

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abstract = "Soft robots have the potential to navigate tortuous pathways such as those found in human anatomy owing to their compliant nature and low risk of injury to soft tissues. However, their control is challenging due to the lack of reliable closed-form analytical models. Recently, kinematic-free control has been used to bypass analytical modeling. While online Jacobian estimation has been explored in various soft robot configurations, it has not been demonstrated in three-cable driven soft arms without backbones, particularly using computer vision and electromagnetic tracking for workspace exploration. This study addresses this gap by implementing online Jacobian estimation through workspace exploration in a three-cable driven soft arm through visual servoing and integrating an Ascension trakSTAR system for occlusion-free position feedback.",

keywords = "Electromagnetic Tracking, Jacobian Estimation, Model-free Control, Soft Robotics, Visual Servoing",

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AU - Kowalewski, Timothy M.

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AB - Soft robots have the potential to navigate tortuous pathways such as those found in human anatomy owing to their compliant nature and low risk of injury to soft tissues. However, their control is challenging due to the lack of reliable closed-form analytical models. Recently, kinematic-free control has been used to bypass analytical modeling. While online Jacobian estimation has been explored in various soft robot configurations, it has not been demonstrated in three-cable driven soft arms without backbones, particularly using computer vision and electromagnetic tracking for workspace exploration. This study addresses this gap by implementing online Jacobian estimation through workspace exploration in a three-cable driven soft arm through visual servoing and integrating an Ascension trakSTAR system for occlusion-free position feedback.

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ESTIMATING THE NON-PARAMETRIC JACOBIAN OF A TENDON-DRIVEN SOFT ROBOT END-EFFECTOR

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Publisher link

Find It

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