NRI: Shape Morphing Arm Robotic (SMART) Manipulators for Simultaneous Safe Human-Robot Interaction and High Performance in Manufacturing

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Co-robots are robotic devices that work in collaboration with human partners. The current solutions for human-safe co-robots fail to offer the safety required in many manufacturing tasks. The shape morphing robotic manipulators are designed to be inherently safe by making the links flexible during robot motion. The upper and lower arms of the manipulators can change their stiffness in real-time by simple smart material actuators. The arms are relatively stiff at low speeds for maximum performance and highly flexible at high speeds for maximum safety. When a collision occurs, the flexible link deflects to limit the impact to the human operator. At low speeds, the flexible link is morphed to the high stiffness mode for maximum positioning accuracy. This research will significantly improve the design of safe co-robotic systems, which can benefit numerous fields, including the health care, automotive, construction and military sectors. It will help to reduce injuries in manufacturing industries and home/hospital nursing and improve efficiency of housekeeping. Safety concerns with industrial robots present a serious technical barrier to practical co-robot applications. To address these safety challenges, this research offers a comprehensive solution by integrating complementary expertise in three areas: (i) shape morphing and design optimization of compliant mechanisms, (ii) electrically-controlled stiffness modulation with smart materials and (iii) performance maximization by optimal motion control. The shape morphing robotic manipulators can adapt their stiffness to the traveling speed by morphing their shape. They are designed for safe operation while maintaining their performance via shape morphing control and trajectory motion control. The shape morphing robotic manipulator offers several advantages over existing techniques in co-robots. It has the potential to create a paradigm shift towards "safe by design, performance by control" for human-safe co-robots.