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

基于柔性关节的机构为基于刚性部件之间接触的传统机构提供了一种替代方案。由于其关节中不可避免的间隙和摩擦，后一类机构的精度有限。柔性机构提供更高的精度，这使它们成为微纳米制造、生物医学、光学等学科的关键工具。另一方面，这些机制仍然面临着一些挑战：它们的运动范围通常是有限的；它们对横向荷载敏感；而且它们的带宽很窄。在本研究中，我们将开发柔顺关节，以提高柔顺机构在这三个方面的性能。柔性关节也有潜在的优点，如轻量化和高各向异性。这两种特性可以结合在一起，设计出可以缠绕在绞车上的移动接头，在非常小的存储体积下产生很大的跨度。这样的接头可以用电缆连接起来。这将导致一种新型的并联机器人机械臂在其缩回尺寸方面表现出非常大的工作空间。这种机构的预期应用是在航空航天、结构部署和机器人操作；而且在地面机器人领域，有可能开发出体积更小、能很好地融入环境、成本更低的机械装置。

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.