Internally-Balanced Displacement-Force Converter for Stepless Control of Spring Deformation Compensated by Cam With Variable Pressure Angle
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters(2021)
Abstract
The force required to drive a mechanism can be compensated by adding an equivalent load in the opposite direction. By reversing the input and output of the load compensation, we proposed the concept of a displacement-force converter that enables the deformation of the elastic element to be controlled steplessly by a minimal external force. Its principle was proved in our previous study, but challenges arose owing to the use of a wire and pulley. Here, we introduce a new compensation method using a noncircular cam that generates a compensation torque due to the contact force from the follower, which is split in the tangential direction of the cam by the pressure angle varying at rotation. Using a prototype for proof of concept, the maximum control force required for the extension of the spring was successfully reduced by 23.2%. Furthermore, uniform forces were obtained between extension and compression so that the difference between them decreased from 543% to 49% relative to compression. Thus, actuators and current supplies requiring less power could be selected. Moreover, the prototype model was incorporated into a variable stiffness mechanism of a soft robotic gripper as a wire tensioner to show the expandability of the displacement-force converter.
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Key words
Force,Pulleys,Wires,Torque,Springs,Prototypes,Mathematical model,Actuation and joint mechanisms,force control,mechanism design
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