Mechanism and base control of human-friendly robot with passive collision force suppression mechanism

Abstract

This paper describes the mechanism of a human-friendly robot. The robot consists of two arms, a body and a mobile base. An air cushion bag is developed to cover the entire exterior of the robot. It can reduce the generated impact forces in a collision between any part of the robot and a human. A passive collision suppression mechanism is also developed to deal with greater impact forces. The suppression mechanism is installed in the pitch axis of the elbow and the yaw axis of the waist. The base consists of four omnidirectional wheels, enabling movement in any direction. Moreover, the control method for the base is discussed in this study. Using the robot, collision experiments are conducted and the effectiveness of the robot mechanism and the control method is verified.