2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Research and Development of a Small Differential Elastic Actuator for Narrow Environments
| Project/Area Number |
17K14632
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | 移動ロボット / インフラ点検 / ヘビ型ロボット / 粘弾性体 / アクチュエータ |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In this research project, an elastic actuator that can detect joint torque when the mobile robot contacts an object and can flexibly adapt to the external environment. The torque is calculated from the stiffness of the elastomer attached to the output shaft and its rotational displacement read by the angle sensor. The cross-sectional shape based on material dynamics is designed to improve durability. Through two times prototyping, it is sized to enter a pipe with an inner diameter of 100 mm. It can adapt to a vertically bent pipe and a diameter change by controlling the joint torque using this mechanism (maximum continuous torque: approximately 6 Nm).
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| Free Research Field |
ロボット工学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
一般的な弾性アクチュエータでは，弾性体の回転変位を入力側と出力側の2種類の角度センサの差分を用いて計測し，トルクを検知するのに対し，本研究開発では差動の原理を応用して1種類の角度センサのみで同様のトルク検知機能を実現している．これにより，環境に対して経路を事前に計画し，それに合わせて角度を制御するのではなく，環境との接触を前提としたトルク制御可能な小型の関節のみで環境適応できる．これは生物で例えるなら，目に頼らない環境適応方法であり，カメラなどを用いない新たなロボットの制御法が期待できる．
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