Title :
Soft fluidic actuators of rotary type for safe physical human-machine interaction
Author_Institution :
FWBI Friedrich-Wilhelm-Bessel-Inst. Res. Co., Bremen, Germany
Abstract :
Safe actuators with controllable compliance are indispensable for assistive robots working in human environment and especially for rehabilitation devices physically interacting with patient. The paper introduces new patent pending soft fluidic actuators with rotary elastic chambers (REC), which produces rotational motion without any additional transmission elements. The key actuator features as inherent compliance, high back-driveability and light-weight design build a foundation for safe physical human-machine interaction, although torques of several tens of Newton-meter can be generated. Due to their compact design the REC-actuators demonstrate better integration capabilities into complex kinematic structures than conventional fluidic muscles of linear type. The actuator compliance can be varied by pressure regulation in antagonistic acting chambers, which makes soft fluidic actuators very suitable for making the transition from continuous passive motion to active (assistive) behaviour during the therapy depending on a patient activity. Conceptual design of modular compact assistive motion therapy devices based on new ldquoslim-linerdquo REC-actuators is presented.
Keywords :
fluidic devices; human-robot interaction; medical robotics; motion control; patient rehabilitation; pneumatic actuators; active behaviour; antagonistic acting chamber; assistive robot; complex kinematic structure; conceptual design; continuous passive motion; controllable compliance; modular compact assistive motion therapy device; patent pending soft fluidic actuator; pressure regulation; rehabilitation device; rotary elastic chamber; safe physical human-machine interaction; torque generation; Force measurement; Force sensors; Hydraulic actuators; Man machine systems; Medical robotics; Medical treatment; Muscles; Pneumatic actuators; Rehabilitation robotics; Robotics and automation;
Conference_Titel :
Rehabilitation Robotics, 2009. ICORR 2009. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Kyoto International Conference Center
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-3788-7
Electronic_ISBN :
1945-7898
DOI :
10.1109/ICORR.2009.5209571