Design and Control of Robot Arms and Actuators for Greater Applicability, Safety and Sustainability

今天的机器人手臂要么太不安全，要么太弱，无法用于许多应用。 由于传感器和软件永远不会100%可靠，因此机器人手臂必须在本质上安全，然后才能与工厂中的人一起工作或合作（而不是目前将机器人手臂隔离在安全围栏后面的做法），并且在它们可以帮助非制造应用中的人之前，例如辅助生活。 本质安全的机器人手臂即使在传感器或软件故障时也不会造成伤害。 一种方法可以通过严格限制手臂的速度和力输出来实现。然而，这将使手臂在许多应用中过于低效和/或虚弱。 更好的方法是机械设计其组件，以防止在手臂与人碰撞时发生有害的冲击力。

Today's robot arms are either too unsafe or too weak to be useful for many applications. Since sensors and software will never be 100% reliable, robot arms must be made intrinsically safe before they can work alongside or cooperatively with people in factories (rather than the current practice of isolating robot arms behind safety fences), and before they can help people in non-manufacturing applications, such as assisted living. A robot arm that is intrinsically safe will not cause injuries even when sensors or software fails. One way this can be accomplished by severely limiting the speed and force output of the arm. However, this will make the arm too unproductive and/or weak for many applications. A better approach is to mechanically design its components to prevent harmful impact forces from occurring if the arm collides with a person.