[citation needed] These characteristics allow continuum manipulators to adjust and modify their shape at any point along their length, granting them the possibility to work in confined spaces and complex environments where standard rigid-link robots cannot operate.
Several concepts of continuum robots have been commercialised and can be found in many different domains of application, ranging from the medical field to undersea exploration.
[2] The main characteristic of the design of continuum robots is the presence of a continuously curving core structure, named backbone, whose shape can be actuated.
Traditionally, this is done using cameras that are not suitable for some of the applications of continuum robots (e.g. minimally invasive surgery), or using electromagnetic sensors that are however disturbed by the presence of magnetic objects in the environment.
For example, a quadruped robot with continuum limbs has been developed: it can walk, crawl, trot and propel to whole arm grasping to negotiate difficult obstacles.
[21] NASA has developed a continuum manipulator, named Tendril, that can extend into crevasses and under thermal blankets to access areas that would be otherwise inaccessible with conventional means.