Discrete Geometric Modeling and Extended State Estimation of Continuum Robots

arXiv:2606.21205v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: In this paper, we present a fully discrete approach for the accurate and numerically efficient dynamical modeling and state estimation of continuum robots. The model is based on geometrically exact beams in a minimal, strain-based formulation and derived in the framework of Lie group variational integrators, allowing to preserve important geometric properties that we exploit to achieve high accuracy and numerical efficiency. We then propose a disturbance observer based on an extended Kalman filter formulation that reliably estimates system states as well as model uncertainties and external disturbances. Experiments on a real system validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model and observer.

Source: arXiv cs.RO | 2026-06-23