In this paper, we thoroughly analyze the effect of single-tendon and antagonistic tendons actuation on tension loss of multi-segment tendon-driven continuum manipulators (TD-CMs) with irregular geometry. To this end, we propose a generic analytical modeling approach and iterative algorithm that can solve the unknown correlation between distributed friction force, tendons' tension transmission loss, and planar deformation behavior of TD-CMs during tendons' pulling and releasing phases. The proposed generic model solely relies on known input tendons' tensions and does not require a priori knowledge of the manipulator's shape and/or other experimental conditions. To investigate the influence of actuation type on tension loss and deformation behavior of TD-CMs, we fabricated two different TD-CMs and performed various simulation and experimental studies with single-tendon and antagonistic tensions actuations. The obtained results indicate the importance of considering the effect of distributed friction force and actuation type on tension(s) loss of multi-segment TD-CMs. Moreover, it clearly demonstrates the efficacy and accuracy of the proposed model in providing insights and understanding of tension transmission process in various types of actuations in multi-segment TD-CMs with irregular geometry.
Keywords: Distributed Friction Force; Medical Robots and Systems; Tendon Driven Continuum Manipulators.