Exploration of confined spaces, such as pipelines and ducts, remains challenging for conventional rigid robots due to limited space, irregular geometry, and restricted access. Inspired by caterpillar locomotion and sensing, this paper presents a compact spring-based tendon-driven continuum robot that integrates with commercial robotic arms for confined-space inspection. The system combines a mechanically compliant continuum body with a tendon actuation module, enabling coupled bending and axial length change, and uses a constant-curvature kinematic model for positional control. Experiments show a mean position error of 4.32 mm under the proposed model and control pipeline. To extend the system from motion to inspection, we integrate an artificial bristle contact sensor and demonstrate surface perception and confined-space exploration through contact interactions. This compact and compliant design offers a cost-effective upgrade for commercial robots and promises effective exploration in challenging environments.

翻译：受限空间（如管道和风管）的探索对于传统刚性机器人而言仍然具有挑战性，原因在于空间有限、几何形状不规则以及访问受限。受毛毛虫运动与感知机制的启发，本文提出了一种紧凑的基于弹簧的腱驱动连续体机器人，可与商用机械臂集成用于受限空间检测。该系统将机械顺应性连续体与腱驱动模块相结合，实现了弯曲与轴向长度变化的耦合，并采用恒定曲率运动学模型进行位置控制。实验表明，在所提出的模型与控制流程下，平均位置误差为4.32毫米。为了将系统功能从运动扩展到检测，我们集成了人工刷毛接触传感器，并通过接触交互展示了表面感知与受限空间探索能力。这种紧凑且顺应性强的设计为商用机器人提供了一种经济高效的升级方案，有望在具有挑战性的环境中实现有效探索。