Design and Analysis of Variable Flexible Actuator for Human-Robot Interaction

面向人机交互的机器人变刚度柔性驱动器设计与分析

School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

Received: 13 April 2018

Abstract

In view of the shortcomings of the traditional high-rigidity robots that can't ensure safety of human-robot interaction and the adaptability of complex environment, a variable stiffness flexible actuator is proposed for the robot joint based on the magnetorheological (MR) effect of MR Fluids. In this paper, the principle of flexible joint drive is detailed, and design the structure of the drive and perform mechanical analysis is designed. At the same time, the magnetic field analysis of the actuator is carried out by using the magnetic field simulation software Maxwell. Finally, the actuator is simulated and verified. Comparing the analysis of the results, the actuator has the characteristics of simple structure, easy control and wider active variable stiffness adjustment range, and can absorb the vibration or shock energy, and improve the robot joint output ability.

摘要

针对传统的高刚性机器人已无法满足人机交互安全性和复杂环境自适应性的不足之处，利用磁流变液的磁流变效应，提出并设计了一种新型的用于机器人关节的变刚度柔性驱动器。详述了柔性关节驱动原理，设计了驱动器的结构并进行力学分析，同时利用磁场仿真软件Maxwell进行驱动器的磁场分析。最后对驱动器性能进行仿真分析和实验验证，对比分析结果表明该驱动器具有结构简单、易于控制、更宽的主动变刚度调节范围的特点，并且能够吸收振动或者冲击带来的能量，提高了机器人的关节输出能力。