Sarcomere Inspired Linear Actuator

设计一个能够真正匹配所需功率/重量比的电动执行器。对于“活动”踝关节或膝关节假体来说，这是一个重大的技术挑战，也是本研究项目的驱动力。新的执行器必须提供一个具有成本效益，高度紧凑和更强大的单元，能够适应缺失肢体部分的体积，并且必须提供比目前市场上的设备显着改善的用户“可控性”，通过与正常人类期望兼容的用户界面提供性能，因此更直观，更容易控制。Elumotion的目标是执行器组件将由电气控制，而不是机械接合。这应该允许身体产生假肢的自由摆动，尽可能地利用“被动动力学”，从而节省便携式电源并保持佩戴者的自然行走步态。进一步的优势还包括无噪音运行、抗污染物侵入的稳健性，以及由于高效率和无磨损表面而具有长占空比的潜力。新的执行器有望成为机器人，工业，医疗，汽车和航空航天应用中现有执行器的替代品-提供更可控和更可靠的组件。特别是，能够以减震模式控制执行器可能对工业自动化和过程控制特别有吸引力，在这些领域，由于组件不具有减震功能，可能会发生碰撞和故障，从而导致制造停机。

Designing an electrical actuator that can truly match the power/weight ratio needed. for an 'active' ankle or knee prosthesis presents significant technical challenges and isthe driver for this research project. The new actuator must provide a cost-effective,highly compact and more powerful unit able to fit within the volume of the absent limbsections and must offer significantly improved user 'controllability' over devicescurrently on the market, oelivering performance through a user interface compatiblewith normal human expectation and therefore be more intuitive and easier to control.Elumotion's target is that actuator components will be electrically controlled with nomechanical engagement. This should permit body generated free-swing of the·prosthetic limb, making use, whenever possible, of 'passive dynamics' so enablingconservation of portable power supplies and preservation of the wearers naturalwalking gait. Further advantages are anticipated from noise-free operation, robustnessto contaminant ingress and the potential for long duty cycles due to high efficienciesand the absence of wearing surfaces. The new actuator is expected to be attractive asa replacement for existing actuators in robotic, industrial, medical, automotive andaerospace applications - offering a significantly more controllable and more reliablecomponent. In particular being able to control the actuator in a shock absorbing modemay be particularly attractive to industrial automation and process control, wheremanufacturing downtime can occur from assemblies that collide and fail as they do notpossess a shock absorbing feature.