cableactuated

Cableactuated systems transmit actuation forces via cables or tendons that run from remote actuators to a moving mechanism. The cables are guided by pulleys, sheaths, or channels to control joints or flexible backbones. The term is often used interchangeably with tendon-driven or cable-driven actuation, and it enables remote actuation with minimal moving mass at the output.

Typical implementations include robotic hands or fingers with tendons anchored to joints, continuum or snake-like robots with multiple cables along a flexible spine, and prosthetic, exoskeletal, or industrial robots. In many designs, multiple cables drive several degrees of freedom from a compact base using a network of pulleys.

Advantages include a favorable force-to-weight ratio when high-tensile cables are used, the ability to route actuators away from the moving load to reduce inertia, and the potential for safe, compliant motion. Cable actuation supports compact end-effectors and complex, multi-DOF motion with relatively few motors.

Challenges involve cable elasticity, which introduces nonlinear, time-varying behavior and position error; wear and friction at pulleys and sheaths; slack management and tension control; and complex routing that complicates maintenance. Precise calibration and sensing are required to compensate for stretch and hysteresis.

Materials include steel wire and advanced polymers such as Kevlar or Dyneema, used alone or in composite cables. Sensing often combines encoders with tension or load sensors; control methods use model-based compensation for stretch, friction, and backlash to achieve accurate motion.