Conceptualization and Mechanical Design of a Cam-Follower-Based Chewing Robot With Three Oral Chambers

摘要

Understanding the changes in food texture during mastication and the interaction between food and the masticatory system is critical for the development of food products. In vivo studies are often constrained by ethical considerations, limited access, and challenges in ensuring repetitive and objective observations. As a result, in vitro studies using chewing robots have gained prominence. However, most existing chewing robots can only replicate limited aspects of oral functions. This study aims to develop a new chewing robot to mimic the human food masticating process. By analyzing the pros and cons of existing chewing robots, the technical requirements for the new design were identified. A chewing robot with three chambers and chewing trajectories to be achieved by a camshaft is proposed to improve the efficiency of the in vitro experiments. Additionally, a V-shaped food repositioning mechanism, requiring no additional actuation, is integrated into the chambers to facilitate food manipulation, which is validated by experiments. Finally, the robot is built and demonstrated to successfully chew food samples via automatic operation.