Design of a Passive Self-Regulating Gravity Compensator for Variable Payloads

Abstract

Most passive gravity balancing mechanisms (GBMs) require manual adjustment or actuators to alter its parameters for different payloads. The few balancers that passively self-regulate employ regulation at the end-effector, which makes the end-effector bulky. Additionally, there is a lack of systematic approach to design such compensators. Hence, this paper provides a review of current work which serves as the basis for a systematic design approach to solve the problem. Unlike previous designs, an independent self-regulating mechanism is mounted onto the proximal link of the GBM achieving better safety, larger range of motion, and loading at intermediate angles. The GBM is designed using design tools like functional modeling and morphological analysis with existing literature. This approach reveals design considerations of current GBMs and areas for innovation. Design approaches from the literature are organized and serve as a reference for innovation. A prototype is developed, and experiments are performed to illustrate the capability.

Conceptual design and virtual prototyping of a wearable upper limb exoskeleton for assisted operations

“…The 1 DoF balancer [63] has been utilized as a basic module in many researches [64][65][66]. With reference to Fig.…”

Passive Gravity Balancing with a Self-Regulating Mechanism for Variable Payload

“…[22] suggests installing two orthogonal springs and modifying their position. In [23], a self-regulating system is proposed, which requires moving the pivot of the link, which is also required by [24]. In recent works, the usage of gear springs modules has been investigated for the balancing against the gravity of planar articulated robotic arms [25] and of delta parallel robots [26].…”

Zero Torque Compliant Mechanisms Employing Pre-buckled Beams

“…They can also be used to realize compact and rather simple mechatronic systems requiring torque regulation, since no controllers or sensors are needed to maintain a specific torque value. Examples of applications include rehabilitative and assisting devices [2], medical tools [3], aerospace devices [18] and counterbalancing systems in robotic arms [19,20].…”