Applying a flexible microactuator to robotic mechanisms

Author

Suzumori, Koichi ; Iikura, S. ; Tanaka, Hiroshisa

Author_Institution

Toshiba Corp., Kawasaki, Japan

Volume

12

Issue

1

fYear

1992

Firstpage

21

Lastpage

27

Abstract

A flexible microactuator (FMA) driven by an electropneumatic (or electrohydraulic) system has been developed. It has three degrees of freedom-pitch, yaw, and stretch-making it suitable for robotic mechanisms such as fingers, arms, or legs. It is made of fiber-reinforced rubber, and the mechanism is very simple, enabling miniature robots without conventional link mechanisms to be designed. Serially connected FMAs act as a miniature robot manipulator. The kinematics and control algorithm for this type of robot are presented. FMAs combined in parallel act as a multifingered robot hand, with each FMA representing a finger. An algorithm for the cooperative control for such FMAs, the stable region for holding, and its performance have been developed.<>

Keywords

actuators; electrohydraulic control equipment; electropneumatic control equipment; kinematics; robots; arms; control algorithm; cooperative control; fingers; flexible microactuator; kinematics; legs; miniature robots; multifingered robot hand; pitch; robot manipulator; robotic mechanisms; stretch; yaw; Arm; Electrohydraulics; Fingers; Kinematics; Leg; Legged locomotion; Manipulators; Microactuators; Robots; Rubber;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Control Systems, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1066-033X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/37.120448

Filename

120448