MECHANICALLY STIFFNESS -ADJUSTABLE ACTUATOR USING A LEAF SPRING FOR SAFE PHYSICAL HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION

Abstract

An Active Variable Stiffness Elastic Actuator (AVSEA), which is designed and applied for safe physical human-robot interaction, is presented in this paper. The AVSEA consists of two DC motors: one is used to control the position of the joint, and the other is used to adjust the stiffness of the system. By changing the effective length of the leaf spring, the AVSEA has the ability to minimize large impact forces due to shocks, to safely interact with the user, and/or to become as stiff as possible to make precise position movements or trajectory tracking control easier. Experiment results are presented to show that the AVSEA is capable of providing precise position movements while offering safe human-robot interaction.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.18.1.1286