Development of a masticatory robot using a novel cable-driven linear actuator with bidirectional motion

Abstract

Masticatory robots are an effective in vitro performance testing device for dental material and mandibular prostheses. A cable-driven linear actuator (CDLA) capable of bidirectional motion is proposed in this study to design a masticatory robot that can achieve increasingly human-like chewing motion. The CDLA presents remarkable advantages, such as lightweight and high stiffness structure, in using cable amplification and pulley systems. This work also exploits the proposed CDLA and designs a masticatory robot called Southeast University masticatory robot (SMAR) to solve existing problems, such as bulky driving linkage and position change of the muscle’s origin. Stiffness analysis and performance experiment validate the CDLA’s efficiency, with its stiffness reaching 1379.6 N/mm (number of cable parts n = 4), which is 21.4 times the input wire stiffness. Accordingly, the CDLA’s force transmission efficiencies in two directions are 84.5% and 85.9%. Chewing experiments are carried out on the developed masticatory robot to verify whether the CDLA can help SMAR achieve a natural human-like chewing motion and sufficient chewing forces for potential applications in performance tests of dental materials or prostheses.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

masticatory robot / cable-driven / linear actuator / parallel robot / stiffness analysis

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Nomenclature

Abbreviations
3D	Three dimensional
ABS	Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
c, s	sine and cosine functions, respectively
CDLA	Cable-driven linear actuator
CDPM	Cable-driven parallel manipulator
DOF	Degree of freedom
PUS	Prismatic−universal−spherical
RSS	Revolute−spherical−spherical
SMAR	Southeast University masticatory robot
TMJ	Temporomandibular joint
WJ	Waseda Jaw
WY	Waseda Yamanashi
UPS	Universal−prismatic−spherical
Variables
F	External force applied to the sliding shaft
Fin	Motor’s input pulling force
Fout	Cable and pulley system’s output force
kla	CDLA’s stiffness
kw	Stiffness coefficient of wires
K	Cable’s elasticity coefficient
K_{\text{out}}	Output stiffness of this pulley system
Δlin	Input deformation
Δlout	Output deformation
l_{{\mathit{U}}_i{\mathit{S}}_i}	Corresponding length of each CDLA
Lleft, Lright	Length of the left and right wires that pull or loosen, respectively
Lpre	Pretensioned distance of the wire
ΔL	Infinitesimal change of the length of wires
n	Number of cables turning around the movable pulleys
{\mathit{p}}^G	Position of {M} relative to {G}
{\mathit{R}}_M^G	Rotation transformation matrix mapping from {M} to {G}
Si (i = 1, 2, …, 6)	Insertion points of the six-muscle CDLA
Tloosen	Tension of the loosened wire during the movement
Tpull	Tension of the pulled wire during the movement
ΔT	Input force generated by the motor
Ui (i = 1, 2, …, 6)	Origin points of the six-muscle CDLA
{\mathit{U}}_i{\mathit{S}}_i^G	Vector of each CDLA connecting point Ui and Si
x	Distance that the sliding block moves
X	Coordinates in X direction
Δx	Infinitesimal change of the moving distance of the sliding block
YL, YR	Coordinates of the left and right ball heads in the TMJ structure, respectively
Y	Coordinates in Y direction
Z	Coordinates in Z direction
α, β, γ	Euler angles rotated about X, Y, and Z axes, respectively

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20190368), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51705063), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and Zhishan Scholar Program of Southeast University, China. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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