Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) systems are being used for many applications such as automotive transmissions, robotics, aerospace. In an ideal condition, these systems have the potential to provide continuously varying power transmission within a predefined limit. This transmission is accomplished with the help of friction, belt or gear systems. CVT can find application in a human-robot interface if design criteria such as backdrivability, independent output position and impedance variation, shock absorbing and low mass and inertia can be satisfied. Even if there are various CVT designs in the literature for human-robot interfaces, the primary limitation of the two-cone drive CVT designs is that the output torque and the output position cannot be altered independently. The reason for this problem is that the friction wheel, which is designed to transmit the torque from the input cone to the output cone, gives rise to remarkable longitudinal friction force along the linear way. In order to overcome this problem, a sphere is used in this work for the CVT design as the transmission element. In addition, it is stated in the literature that common CVT drive systems do not have the capability to be used in cyclic bidirectional motion. In the presented CVT design, a second sphere is added to the system with two springs from the lower part of the cones for pre-tension in order to solve the bidirectional transmission problem. In this paper, the working principle and conceptual design details of the novel two-cone CVT drive are presented. Experimental results showed that the novel CVT has the capacity to transmit bidirectional power with some accuracy.
The objective of this paper is to propose an adaptive impedance control framework to cope with uncertainties in vision and dynamics in robotic assembly tasks. The framework is composed of an adaptive controller, a vision system, and an interaction planner, which are all supervised by a finite state machine. In this framework, the target assembly object's pose is detected through the vision module, which is then used for the planning of the robot trajectories. The adaptive impedance control module copes with the uncertainties of the vision and the interaction planner modules in alignment of the assembly parts (a peg and a hole in this work). Unlike the classical impedance controllers, the online adaptation rule regulates the level of robot compliance in constrained directions, acting on and responding to the external forces. This enables the implementation of a flexible and adaptive Remote Center of Compliance (RCC) system, using active control. We first evaluate the performance of the proposed adaptive controller in comparison to classical impedance control. Next, the overall performance of the integrated system is evaluated in a pegin-hole setup, with different clearances and orientation mismatches.
New robotic systems are placed out of their constrained workspaces in order to work alongside humans. Consequently, these applications call for robots monitoring and regulating physical human-robot interaction. These robots' mechanical compliance should be varied when they are in physical contact with the human or their changing environments. This compliance variation can be achieved in a variety of ways. However, one common idea is the variation of joint stiffness mechanically, electromechanically or by control. The solution presented in this paper is an electromechanical way of varying the joint stiffness. Among the electromechanical methods for varying the joint stiffness, continuously variable transmission (CVT) systems can be used in human-robot interfaces if a set of design criteria are met. These criteria include backdrivability, independent output position and stiffness variation, shock absorbing and low mass/inertia. In this paper, a novel two-cone CVT design with a double spherical transmission element is introduced by taking into account the abovementioned criteria. Additionally, design parameters are identified via carrying out a geometrical analysis of this new CVT system.
The use of assistive technologies in industrial environments to improve human ergonomics and comfort in repetitive and high effort tasks have increased considerably in the last decade. Predominantly, the goal is to provide additional physical support through lightweight and wearable devices, without posing major constraints to the human body movements. Towards achieving this objective, in this work we present a novel actuation mechanism for a soft assistive device, by taking into account the human elbow torque-angle profile. The proposed design integrates a single motor coupled with an elastic bungee and a cam-spool mechanism to enable energy exchange during the elbow flexion movement, while allowing for free-motions during the extension of the joint. A cable-driven transmission with passive elastic attachments is employed to implement compliant couplings with the wearer and to achieve easy donning/doffing. Experiments are conducted on two 3D printed functional prototypes. Results suggest that the assistive elbow torque is effectively transmitted with an average 90% success for balancing a 5N payload, and the free-motion range of 108 • is measured for both flexion and extension.
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