Study of Functional Manipulator with The Artificial Muscle and Human Skeleton

研究了一种新型功能机械手的驱动器，该驱动器既没有普通的液压驱动机构，也没有电动机，而是仿生骨骼肌的结构和功能，并采用了形状记忆合金（SMA）作为材料，该材料能够将热能直接转换为机械能，并且具有无声的柔性。人工肌节作为一种结构，与活体骨骼肌的最小单位相同，是以平行、串联的方式连接成人工肌肉的。而不是使用螺旋弹簧来获得整形功率。具有明显的拮抗结构。此外，我们计划制作一个机械手，（手臂和手假肢）具有相同的人体结构和功能，而不是作为“普通的机器人方式”，而是将关节肌引入人体骨骼的方式第一年，设计并制作了具有拮抗结构的SMA人工肌节人工肌肉，近年来，机械手的动力学设计方法得到了发展。这种设计方法是通过引入与活体骨骼肌相同的、具有易于根据使用目的改变的特性的人工肌肉的特征方程，建立其动力学仿真模型，并利用这种设计方法，对由人体手臂解剖学特征引入的人工肌肉骨关节模型进行了计算机仿真。因此，通过调整肌肉的踝关节点，可以很容易地评估各种负荷引起的不稳定性。

A study of the functional manipulator with a newly developed actuator, which has not ordinary hydrauric driven mechanisms nor electric motors but has bio-mimicked structures and functions of the living skeletal muscle, was performed.As a material, Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), which is capable of direct energy conversion from heat to mechanical power and has flexibility with silent sounds, was utilized. AS a structure, an artificial sarcomere, which is the same as the minimum unit of the living skeletal muscle, was connencted in parallel and in serious into an artificial muscle. Instead of using coil spring to get reshaping power. antagonistic structure was featured. Furthermore, we planned to make a manipulator (arm and hand prosthesis) which has same human structures and functions not as an "ordinary way of robots" but the way of introducing the arificial muscle to the human skeleton (bone and joint).It the first year, the artificial muscle with the antagonistic structure and of the SMA artificial sarcomere was designed and fabricated.In this (the last) year, the manipulator design method of dynamic analysis was developed. This design method, that is, was established by dynamic simulation introduced by the characteristic equation of the artificial muscle, of which is the same as the living skeletal muscle, and had an easily changeable property by the aim of use.By means of this design method, computer simulations of the model of bone and joint with the artificial muscle, which were introduced by the anatomical characteristics of the human arm, were done. Therefore, evaluation of unstability caused by a variety of load performed with ease by adjusting the muscle ankering point.