Latest Papers

ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics

  • Mechanical Characterization of Supernumerary Robotic Tails for Human Balance Augmentation
    on August 31, 2023 at 12:00 am

    AbstractHumans are intrinsically unstable in quiet stance from a rigid body system viewpoint; however, they maintain balance, thanks to neuro-muscular sensory control properties. With increasing levels of balance related incidents in industrial and ageing populations globally each year, the development of assistive mechanisms to augment human balance is paramount. This work investigates the mechanical characteristics of kinematically dissimilar one and two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) supernumerary robotic tails for balance augmentation. Through dynamic simulations and manipulability assessments, the importance of variable coupling inertia in creating a sufficient reaction torque is highlighted. It is shown that two-DoF tails with solely revolute joints are best suited to address the balance augmentation issue. Within the two-DoF options, the characteristics of open versus closed loop tails are investigated, with the ultimate design selection requiring trade-offs between environmental workspace, biomechanical factors, and manufacturing ease to be made.

Spring Configurations and Attachment Angles Determination for Statically Balanced Planar Articulated Manipulators

Abstract

Admissible spring configurations for statically balanced planar articulated manipulators have been investigated in previous studies. However, in these spring configurations, springs are only identified by the connection between links. The attachment angles and distance for springs to be properly installed remain unaddressed. In this study, a method to determine attachment angles and distance for springs is developed to ensure all the springs are acting for the benefit of static balancing. Here, the gravitational and elastic potential energies are represented in stiffness matrix form, it is shown that term by term compatibility exists between the first row of gravitational stiffness matrix and the first row of the elastic stiffness matrix. In accordance with these compatibility conditions, the admissible spring attachment angles are found to ensure all the ground-connected springs are acting for the benefit of gravity balancing. And the remained components below the first row of the elastic stiffness matrix are offset by the non-ground-connected springs. In accordance with the compatibility between the remained components and the elastic stiffness matrix of non-ground-connected springs, the spring attachment angles to ensure all the non-ground-connected springs acting for the benefit of elastic balancing are found. The determination of the admissible spring configurations is revisited in addition to the connection between links, and the attachment angles of springs are also specified. The admissible spring configurations of statically balanced planar articulated three- and four-link manipulators are derived. A four-link planar manipulator is used as an example for illustration.

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