  This paper introduces a new type of soft continuum robot, called SCoReS,
which is capable of self-controlling continuously its curvature at the segment
level; in contrast to previous designs which either require external forces or
machine elements, or whose variable curvature capabilities are discrete --
depending on the number of locking mechanisms and segments. The ability to have
a variable curvature, whose control is continuous and independent from external
factors, makes a soft continuum robot more adaptive in constrained
environments, similar to what is observed in nature in the elephant's trunk or
ostrich's neck for instance which exhibit multiple curvatures. To this end, our
soft continuum robot enables reconfigurable variable curvatures utilizing a
variable stiffness growing spine based on micro-particle granular jamming for
the first time. We detail the design of the proposed robot, presenting its
modeling through beam theory and FEA simulation -- which is validated through
experiments. The robot's versatile bending profiles are then explored in
experiments and an application to grasp fruits at different configurations is
demonstrated.
