Modelling, design and control of compliant joints to mimic lower kinematic pairs

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Mechanisms based on compliant joints offer an alternative to conventional mechanisms based on the contact between rigid parts. The latter class of mechanisms has limited accuracy, due to the inevitable clearance and friction in its joints. Compliant mechanisms offer higher precision, which makes them a critical tool in disciplines such as micro- and nano-fabrication, biomedicine, optics, etc. On the other hand, these mechanisms still face some challenges: Their range of motions is often limited; they are sensitive to transverse loads; and their bandwidth is narrow. In this proposed research, we will develop compliant joints to improve the performance of compliant mechanisms in all three aspects. Compliant joints also have potential advantages such as lightweight and high anisotropy. These two properties can be combined to design prismatic joints that can be wound on winches, yielding a large span for a very small storage volume. Such joints can then be coupled with cables. This will result in a new class of parallel robotic manipulators exhibiting very large workspaces with respect to their retracted sizes. Envisioned applications for such mechanisms are in aerospace, for the deployment of structures, and robotic manipulation; but also in terrestrial robotics, with the potential development of mechanisms that are less bulky, well integrated into their environment, and less expensive.