Development of Variable Stiffness Manipulator for Tactile Sensing of Surrounding Environment

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25870218
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Design engineering/Machine functional elements/Tribology; Natural disaster / Disaster prevention science
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: MATSUURA Daisuke 東京工業大学, 大学院理工学研究科, 助教 (40618740)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 弾性冗長機構 / 可変剛性機構 / 接触センシング / 災害対応 / ロボティクス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project has developed a robotic manipulator and an algorithm of evaluating stability of surrounding objects for disaster response. To achieve force measurement with high dynamic range including a non-zero specific minimum value and a very large maximum value, a variable stiffness mechanism (VSM) having a closed-loop mechanism driven by a couple of motors and a leaf spring connecting a static link and an output link was designed. Both angular displacement and rotational stiffness of the mechanism can be changed by using the principle of differential drive and adjustable effective length of the leaf spring.
In order to evaluate how target objects easily collapse or are suitable for supporting effective load, an algorithm called tactile sensing scheme was formulated. This algorithm validates stability of surrounding objects based on visual information measured by TOF sensor and force information obtained by measured displacement and given stiffness of the VSM.

Free Research Field

弾性冗長機構の解析と設計，画像計測，設計工学