This modular cable-driven soft robotic arm consists of three compliant segments with motors mounted directly at the base of each segment, enabling independent and scalable multi-segment actuation. The platform combines a flexible NiTi backbone, 3D-printed lattice bellows, and antagonistic cable actuation for studying real-time full-body shape sensing, modeling, and control of continuum robots.

Highlights

• Three independently actuated soft segments, each approximately 0.2 m long and weighing 0.5 kg, driven by two Dynamixel motors with antagonistic cables.
• Modular distributed-actuation design supports multi-segment configurations without placing all actuators at a centralized robot base.
• OptiTrack motion capture provides 100 Hz full-body shape measurements along the robot for real-time state estimation and feedback control.
• Integrated with ROS2 for real-time shape reconstruction, reference generation, data collection, and Koopman-based model predictive control.