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Design of a torsional compliant mechanism with given discrete torque-deflection points for nonlinear stiffness elastic actuator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2023

Wenjie Ju ,
Bingwei Li ,
Rongjie Kang ,
Songyuan Zhang  and
Zhibin Song Open the ORCID record for Zhibin Song [Opens in a new window]
Wenjie Ju
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering School, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Bingwei Li
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering School, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Rongjie Kang
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering School, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Songyuan Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Zhibin Song*
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering School, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
*
Corresponding author: Zhibin Song; Email: songzhibin@tju.edu.cn
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Abstract

Owing to inherent flexibility, compliant actuator with physical elastic elements can implement compliant interactions between robot and environment. Nonlinear stiffness elastic actuators (NSEAs) use one motor to adjust position and stiffness, which improve compactness of variable stiffness actuators, and consider high torque/force resolution and high bandwidth. The primary challenge of designing a NSEA is designing a reliable compliant mechanism with a given torque-deflection profile. In this study, a general design method of torsional compliant mechanism through given discrete torque-deflection points was proposed, where a chain algorithm based on 2R pseudo-rigid-body model was used to describe the large deformation in elastic elements. Moreover, the theoretical model of stiffness of a compliant mechanism based on series flexible beams was developed. Based on the proposed model, the dimensional parameters of proposed compliant mechanism were designed satisfying the condition of the given torque-deflection points. Finally, simulation and physical experiment of the designed compliant mechanism through three given torque-deflection points are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The designed compliant mechanism was tested and evaluated in the self-developed NSEA.

Keywords

exoskeletonssensor or actuator designcompliant mechanismseries elastic actuatorservice robots
Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 41 , Issue 9 , September 2023 , pp. 2571 - 2587
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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