I-Corps: Collaborative robotics using discrete variable stiffness actuators

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发协作式机器人操作器，以允许充分利用人类的智能和机器人的精度和力量来提高工业性能和安全。这项拟议的技术旨在支持制造业通过使用协作机器人来补充其劳动力，从而实现制造过程的自动化。这项拟议的技术可能会加快制造业采用协作机器人的速度，以补充熟练工人的缺乏，并将工人从重复性和危险任务中解放出来，以减少事故，提高制造效率。除了制造应用，这种下一代兼容的协作机器人还可能应用于物流、军事服务、医疗、家居伴侣、教育等应用。这个i-Corps项目是基于使用离散变刚度执行器的协作机器人操作器的开发，该执行器既能提供人类安全，又能提供机器人性能。目前，已有的变刚度执行器依赖于连续变刚度机构。该技术提供了一种离散的设计方法，可以快速选择刚度级别，功耗低，刚度变化时零反驱力，设计紧凑。此外，建议的执行器为开发下一代柔顺机器人操作器提供了独特的解决方案，该操作器可以通过快速切换代表性刚度级别来平衡人类安全(低刚度)和机器人性能(高刚度)。建议的合规执行器可应用于机器人行业中需要可变刚度实现的适应性合规动力学的部门，如步行机器人、外骨骼、具有人-机器人物理交互的医疗和教育机器人。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of collaborative robot manipulators to allow full use of human intelligence and robotic precision and strength to improve industrial performance and safety. The proposed technology seeks to support manufacturing industries in automating their manufacturing processes by using collaborative robotic manipulators to complement their workforce. The proposed technology may speed up the adoption of co-robots in manufacturing industries to supplement the lack of skilled workers and release workers from repetitive and dangerous tasks to increase manufacturing efficiency with fewer accidents. In addition to manufacturing applications, this next generation of compliant co-robots also may be applied to logistics, military service, medical care, home companions, education, and other applications. This I-Corps project is based on the development of collaborative robot manipulators using discrete variable stiffness actuators that provide both human safety and robotic performance. Currently, existing variable stiffness actuators rely on continuous stiffness change mechanisms. The proposed technology brings a discrete design methodology for fast stiffness level selection, low power consumption, zero back driving force in stiffness change, and compact design. In addition, the proposed actuators provide a unique solution for the development of next generation of compliant robotic manipulators that may balance human safety (low stiffness) and robotic performance (high stiffness) using fast switching of representative stiffness levels. The proposed compliant actuators may be applied to sectors of the robotics industry that require adaptable compliant dynamics enabled by variable stiffness such as walking robots, exoskeletons, medical and educational robotics with human-robot physical interactions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.