A new method of variable compliance for a force display system using a metal hydride actuator

A new method of a force display with variable compliances is proposed to give the force sense to an elbow joint using a metal hydride (MH) actuator for the sensory displays for artificial reality and tele-existence robots. An MH actuator is very suitable for the force display because it works smoothly without any noise, and it is compact, light weight and has adequate compliance. From the experimental results, it was proved that the force display system using MH actuators which were attached to a human elbow by using an orthosis could produce variable compliance by changing the hydride pressure inside the MH actuators simultaneously. In addition, the compliance was able to be smoothly controlled by a computer. It was shown that the subject could receive the force sense information with a realistic feeling