Basic investigation of high strength synthetic fiber ropes for wire driven system and its application to arm equipped hexapod robot

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25420214
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology (2013, 2015); Tokyo Medical and Dental University (2014)
• Principal Investigator: Endo Gen 東京工業大学, 理工学研究科, 准教授 (70395135)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): FUKATSU Tokihiro 農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構, 中央農業総合研究センター, 主任研究員 (40355483)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 化学合成繊維 / ロボット / ワイヤ / 駆動機構

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, we investigated high tensile strength synthetic fiber ropes for a robot joint driving mechanism. We measured and investigated (1)transmission efficiency when a synthetic fiber rope is wounded around a pulley, (2)strength reduction due to sharp bending, (3)strength degrade due to repetitive bending and (4)terminal fixation method. We showed that (1)transmission efficiency is very high, (2)strength reduction occurs in case of synthetic fiber ropes similar to a metal rope, (3)some material demonstrate higher repetitive endurance compared with a stainless rope, and (4)mechanical design of practical fixation method which can achieve sufficient fixation strength. We also developed an arm equipped hexapod robot for agricultural field, a long-reach multi-joint arm for decommissioning task and a sprawling-type lightweight quadruped. These robots prove the synthetic fiber rope can be used for practical robotic system.

Free Research Field

知能機械システム