A Compact McKibben Muscle Based Bending Actuator for Close-to-Body Application in Assistive Wearable Robots
A Compact McKibben Muscle Based Bending Actuator for Close-to-Body Application in Assistive Wearable Robots
复制标题
紧凑型 McKibben 基于肌肉的弯曲执行器，用于辅助可穿戴机器人中的贴身应用
DOI：
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发表时间：
2020
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
K. Suzumori
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Tschiersky;E. Hekman;D. Brouwer;J. Herder;K. Suzumori
在这封信中，我们展示了一种用于上肢辅助可穿戴机器人的气动弯曲执行器，它使用薄麦基本肌肉和弯曲带相结合。该驱动器具有主动软驱动和被动重力支撑的特点，在力传递方面弥补了传统刚性型执行器与新兴软执行器技术之间的差距。它的弯曲条利用了McKibben肌肉的高强度低位移特性，实现了大范围的旋转运动，减少了附件的局部力。我们解释了这些致动器的合成方法，通过该方法可以获得并优化高比矩输出。建立了三种优化致动器设计的物理样品，并在专用实验装置上进行了测试，验证了计算模型。此外，提出了一个概念验证上肢辅助可穿戴机器人，以说明该驱动器的实际应用及其接近身体对齐的潜力。我们发现，基于我们目前可用的组件，可以构建致动器，给定80毫米的宽度，能够在臂高程90度时产生超过4纳米的力矩。
In this letter we demonstrate a pneumatic bending actuator for upper-limb assistive wearable robots which uses thin McKibben muscles in combination with a flexure strip. The actuator features both active soft actuation and passive gravity support, and in terms of force transmission bridges the gap between the classic rigid type actuators and the emerging soft actuator technologies. Its flexure strip leverages the high-force low-displacement properties of McKibben muscles towards a large rotational range of motion and reduces localized forces at the attachments. We explain the synthesis method by which these actuators can be obtained and optimized for high specific moment output. Physical specimens of three optimized actuator designs are built and tested on a dedicated experimental setup, verifying the computational models. Furthermore, a proof-of-concept upper-limb assistive wearable robot is presented to illustrate a practical application of this actuator and its potential for close-to-body alignment. We found that based on our currently available components actuators can be built which, given a width of 80 mm, are able to produce a moment exceeding 4 Nm at an arm elevation of 90 deg.