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In-situ aeroengine maintenance works are highly beneficial as it cansignificantly reduce the current maintenance cycle which is extensive andcostly due to the disassembly requirement of engines from aircrafts. However,navigating in/out via inspection ports and performing multi-axis movements withend-effectors in constrained environments (e.g. combustion chamber) are fairlychallenging. A novel extra-slender (diameter-to-length ratio <0.02) dual-stagecontinuum robot (16 degree-of-freedom) is proposed to navigate in/out confinedenvironments and perform required configuration shapes for further repairoperations. Firstly, the robot design presents several innovative mechatronicsolutions: (i) dual-stage tendon-driven structure with bevelled disks toperform required shapes and to provide selective stiffness for carrying highpayloads; (ii) various rigid-compliant combined joints to enable differentflexibility and stiffness in each stage; (iii) three commanding cables for each2-DoF section to minimise the number of actuators with precise actuations.Secondly, a segment-scaled piecewise-constant-curvature-theory based kinematicmodel and a Kirchhoff-elastic-rod-theory based static model are established byconsidering the applied forces/moments (friction, actuation, gravity andexternal load), where the friction coefficient is modelled as a function ofbending angle. Finally, experiments were carried out to validate the proposedstatic modelling and to evaluate the robot capabilities of performing thepredefined shape and stiffness.

Design, Modelling and Validation of a Novel Extra Slender Continuum Robot for In-situ Inspection and Repair in Aeroengine