Proposal of a multiple ER microactuator system using an alternating pressure source
Proposal of a multiple ER microactuator system using an alternating pressure source
复制标题
使用交变压力源的多 ER 微执行器系统的提案
DOI：
10.1016/j.sna.2014.12.002
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发表时间：
2015
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
S. I. Eom and S. Yokota
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
T. Miyoshi;K. Yoshida;S. I. Eom and S. Yokota
本文提出并开发了一种多电流变微致动器系统，该系统采用交流压力源，用于管道工作微机械、医用微机器人等。众所周知，液压微执行器具有高功率密度，但也有缺点，即需要很大的管道空间来供应和返回工作液。在本研究中，提出了一种单管同步控制的交流压力系统。控制阀采用简单的电流变微型阀。电流变微型阀通过电流变液(ERF)在外加电场作用下表观粘度的变化来控制电流变液的流动。此外，在压力源和电流变阀门之间插入压力变送器，并使用水等低粘度流体来传递交变压力。使用低粘度流体，由于压力损失小，可以减小连接管的直径。该装置由多个电流变微执行器和一个交变压力源组成，每个电流变微执行器由一个压力变送器、两个电流变微阀和一个液压微执行器组成。与传统的液压微执行器系统相比，该系统的管数只有传统液压微执行器系统的一半，因此适用于多执行器系统。在本研究中，为了验证所提出的系统的工作原理，我们制作了一个大型模型，该模型由一个尺寸为13 mm×10 mm×10 mm×33 mm的电流变微执行器和一个使用音圈电机的交流压力源组成。通过实验，我们确定了16 mm长的手指活动部分的尖端位移为17 mm。然后，我们用两个电流变手指制作了一个手爪，并确认了它的独立运动。
This paper proposes and develops a multiple ER microactuator system using an alternating pressure source for in-pipe working micromachines, medical microrobots, and so on. A hydraulic microactuator is known to have high power density but also has the drawback of requiring large piping space for the supply and return of the working fluid. In this study, an alternating pressure system with synchronized control valves and a single pipe was proposed. As the control valves, simple ER microvalves were employed. The ER microvalves control an electro-rheological fluid (ERF) flow through its apparent viscosity change due to the applied electric field. In addition, a pressure transmitter is inserted between the pressure source and the ER valves, and low viscosity fluid such as water is used to transmit the alternating pressure. The use of the low viscosity fluid can reduce the diameter of the connecting pipe due to the low pressure loss. The proposed set-up is composed of multiple ER microactuators and an alternating pressure source; each ER microactuator consists of a pressure transmitter, two ER microvalves and a hydraulic microactuator. As the proposed system has half the number of pipes, of smaller diameter, compared with conventional hydraulic microactuator systems, it is suitable for a multiple actuator system. In this study, for verification of the working principle of the proposed system, we fabricated a large model of the system which consists of an ER finger 13 mm × 10 mm × 33 mm in size as a kind of ER microactuator and an alternating pressure source using a voice coil motor. Through experiments, we confirmed the tip displacement of 17 mm for the 16 mm-long movable part of the finger. Then, we fabricated a gripper using two ER fingers and confirmed its independent motion.