Robots are playing an increasingly important role in engineering applications. Soft robots have promising applications in several fields due to their inherent advantages of compliance, low density, and soft interactions. A soft gripper based on bio-inspiration is proposed in this study. We analyze the cushioning and energy absorption mechanism of human fingertips in detail and provide insights for designing a soft gripper with a variable stiffness structure. We investigate the grasping modes through a large deformation modeling approach, which is verified through experiments. The characteristics of the three grasping modes are quantified through testing and can provide guidance for robotics manipulation. First, the adaptability of the soft gripper is verified by grasping multi-scale and extremely soft objects. Second, a cushioning model of the soft gripper is proposed, and the effectiveness of cushioning is verified by grasping extremely sharp objects and living organisms. Notably, we validate the advantages of the variable stiffness of the soft gripper, and the results show that the soft robot can robustly complete assemblies with a gap of only 0.1 mm. Owing to the unstructured nature of the engineering environment, the soft gripper can be applied in complex environments based on the abovementioned experimental analysis. Finally, we design the soft robotics system with feedback capture based on the inspiration of human catching behavior. The feasibility of engineering applications is initially verified through fast capture experiments on moving objects. The design concept of this robot can provide new insights for bionic machinery.
Piezoelectric actuators are a class of actuators that precisely transfer input electric energy into displacement, force, or movement outputs efficiently via inverse piezoelectric effect-based electromechanical coupling. Various types of piezoelectric actuators have sprung up and gained widespread use in various applications in terms of compelling attributes, such as high precision, flexibility of stoke, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and structural scalability. This paper systematically reviews the piezoelectric materials, operating principles, representative schemes, characteristics, and potential applications of each mainstream type of piezoelectric actuator. Herein, we intend to provide a more scientific and nuanced perspective to classify piezoelectric actuators into direct and indirect categories with several subcategories. In addition, this review outlines the pros and cons and the future development trends for all kinds of piezoelectric actuators by exploring the relations and mechanisms behind them. The rich content and detailed comparison can help build an in-depth and holistic understanding of piezoelectric actuators and pave the way for future research and the selection of practical applications.
Given the limited operating ability of a single robotic arm, dual-arm collaborative operations have become increasingly prominent. Compared with the electrically driven dual-arm manipulator, due to the unknown heavy load, difficulty in measuring contact forces, and control complexity during the closed-chain object transportation task, the hydraulic dual-arm manipulator (HDM) faces more difficulty in accurately tracking the desired motion trajectory, which may cause object deformation or even breakage. To overcome this problem, a compliance motion control method is proposed in this paper for the HDM. The mass parameter of the unknown object is obtained by using an adaptive method based on velocity error. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the actual internal force of the object, the pressure signal from the pressure sensor of the hydraulic system is used to estimate the contact force at the end-effector (EE) of two hydraulic manipulators (HMs). Further, the estimated contact force is used to calculate the actual internal force on the object. Then, a compliance motion controller is designed for HDM closed-chain collaboration. The position and internal force errors of the object are reduced by the feedback of the position, velocity, and internal force errors of the object to achieve the effect of the compliance motion of the HDM, i.e., to reduce the motion error and internal force of the object. The required velocity and force at the EE of the two HMs, including the position and internal force errors of the object, are inputted into separate position controllers. In addition, the position controllers of the two individual HMs are designed to enable precise motion control by using the virtual decomposition control method. Finally, comparative experiments are carried out on a hydraulic dual-arm test bench. The proposed method is validated by the experimental results, which demonstrate improved object position accuracy and reduced internal force.
Soft arms have shown great application potential because of their flexibility and compliance in unstructured environments. However, soft arms made from soft materials exhibit limited cargo-loading capacity, which restricts their ability to manipulate objects. In this research, a novel soft arm was developed by coupling a rigid origami exoskeleton with soft airbags. The joint module of the soft arm was composed of a deployable origami exoskeleton and three soft airbags. The motion and load performance of the soft arm of the eight-joint module was tested. The developed soft arm withstood at least 5 kg of load during extension, contraction, and bending motions; exhibited bistable characteristics in both fully contracted and fully extended states; and achieved a bending angle of more than 240° and a contraction ratio of more than 300%. In addition, the high extension, contraction, bending, and torsional stiffnesses of the soft arm were experimentally demonstrated. A kinematic-based trajectory planning of the soft arm was performed to evaluate its error in repetitive motion. This work will provide new design ideas and methods for flexible manipulation applications of soft arms.
The internal force antagonism (IFA) problem is one of the most important issues limiting the applications and popularization of redundant parallel robots in industry. Redundant cable-driven parallel robots (RCDPRs) and redundant rigid parallel robots (RRPRs) behave very differently in this problem. To clarify the essence of IFA, this study first analyzes the causes and influencing factors of IFA. Next, an evaluation index for IFA is proposed, and its calculating algorithm is developed. Then, three graphical analysis methods based on this index are proposed. Finally, the performance of RCDPRs and RRPRs in IFA under three configurations are analyzed. Results show that RRPRs produce IFA in nearly all the areas of the workspace, whereas RCDPRs produce IFA in only some areas of the workspace, and the IFA in RCDPRs is milder than that RRPRs. Thus, RCDPRs more fault-tolerant and easier to control and thus more conducive for industrial application and popularization than RRPRs. Furthermore, the proposed analysis methods can be used for the configuration optimization design of RCDPRs.
In recent years, the robot industry has developed rapidly, and researchers and enterprises have begun to pay more attention to this industry. People are barely familiar with climbing robots, a kind of special robot. However, from their practical value and scientific research value, climbing robots should studied further. This paper analyzes and summarizes the key technologies of climbing robots, introduces various kinds of climbing robots, and examines their advantages and disadvantages to provide a reference for future researchers. Many countries have studied climbing robots and made some achievements. However, due to the complexity of climbing robots, their climbing efficiency and accuracy need to be further improved. The new structure can improve the climbing efficiency. This paper analyzes climbing robots such as mechanical arms, magnetic attraction, and claws. Optimization methods and path planning can improve the accuracy of work. This paper involves some control methods, including complex intelligent control methods such as behavior-based robot control. This paper also investigates various kinematic planning methods and expounds and summarizes various path planning algorithms, including machine learning and reinforcement learning of artificial intelligence, ant colony algorithm, and other algorithms. Therefore, by analyzing the research status of climbing robots at home and abroad, this paper summarizes three important aspects of climbing robots, namely, structural design, control methods, and climbing strategies, elaborates on the achievements and existing problems of these key technologies, and looks forward to the future development trend and research direction of climbing robots.
To achieve the collision-free trajectory tracking of the four-wheeled mobile robot (FMR), existing methods resolve the tracking control and obstacle avoidance separately. Guaranteeing the synergistic robustness and smooth navigation of mobile robots subjected to motion uncertainties in a dynamic environment using this non-cooperative processing method is difficult. To address this challenge, this paper proposes an obstacle-circumventing adaptive control (OCAC) framework. Specifically, a novel anti-disturbance terminal slide mode control with adaptive gains is formulated, incorporating specified control laws for different stages. This formulation guarantees rapid convergence and simultaneous chattering elimination. By introducing sub-target points, a new sub-target dynamic tracking regression obstacle avoidance strategy is presented to transfer the obstacle avoidance problem into a dynamic tracking one, thereby reducing the burden of local path searching while ensuring system stability during obstacle circumvention. Comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed OCAC method can strengthen the convergence and obstacle avoidance efficiency of the concerned FMR system.
In-situ maintenance is of great significance for improving the efficiency and ensuring the safety of aero-engines. The cable-driven continuum robot (CDCR) with twin-pivot compliant mechanisms, which is enabled with flexible deformation capability and confined space accessibility, has emerged as a novel tool that aims to promote the development of intelligence and efficiency for in-situ aero-engine maintenance. The high-fidelity model that describes the kinematic and morphology of CDCR lays the foundation for the accurate operation and control for in-situ maintenance. However, this model was not well addressed in previous literature. In this study, a general kinetostatic modeling and morphology characterization methodology that comprehensively contains the effects of cable-hole friction, gravity, and payloads is proposed for the CDCR with twin-pivot compliant mechanisms. First, a novel cable-hole friction model with the variable friction coefficient and adaptive friction direction criterion is proposed through structure optimization and kinematic parameter analysis. Second, the cable-hole friction, all-component gravities, deflection-induced center-of-gravity shift of compliant joints, and payloads are all considered to deduce a comprehensive kinetostatic model enabled with the capacity of accurate morphology characterization for CDCR. Finally, a compact continuum robot system is integrated to experimentally validate the proposed kinetostatic model and the concept of in-situ aero-engine maintenance. Results indicate that the proposed model precisely predicts the morphology of CDCR and outperforms conventional models. The compact continuum robot system could be considered a novel solution to perform in-situ maintenance tasks of aero-engines in an invasive manner.
Given limited terrain adaptability, most existing multirobot cooperative transportation systems (MRCTSs) mainly work on flat pavements, restricting their outdoor applications. The connectors’ finite deformation capability and the control strategies’ limitations are primarily responsible for this phenomenon. This study proposes a novel MRCTS based on tracked mobile robots (TMRs) to improve terrain adaptability and expand the application scenarios of MRCTSs. In structure design, we develop a novel 6-degree-of-freedom passive adaptive connector to link multiple TMRs and the transported object (the communal payload). In addition, the connector is set with sensors to measure the position and orientation of the robot with respect to the object for feedback control. In the control strategy, we present a virtual leader–physical follower collaborative paradigm. The leader robot is imaginary to describe the movement of the entire system and manage the follower robots. All the TMRs in the system act as follower robots to transport the object cooperatively. Having divided the whole control structure into the leader robot level and the follower robot level, we convert the motion control of the two kinds of robots to trajectory tracking control problems and propose a novel double closed-loop kinematics control framework. Furthermore, a control law satisfying saturation constraints is derived to ensure transportation stability. An adaptive control algorithm processes the wheelbase uncertainty of the TMR. Finally, we develop a prototype of the TMR-based MRCTS for experiments. In the trajectory tracking experiment, the developed MRCTS with the proposed control scheme can converge to the reference trajectory in the presence of initial tracking errors in a finite time. In the outdoor experiment, the proposed MRCTS consisting of four TMRs can successfully transport a payload weighing 60 kg on an uneven road with the single TMR’s maximum load limited to 15 kg. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the structural design and control strategies of the TMR-based MRCTS.
Most parallel manipulators have multiple solutions to the direct kinematic problem. The ability to perform assembly changing motions has received the attention of a few researchers. Cusp points play an important role in the kinematic behavior. This study investigates the cusp points and assembly changing motions in a two degrees of freedom planar parallel manipulator. The direct kinematic problem of the manipulator yields a quartic polynomial equation. Each root in the equation determines the assembly configuration, and four solutions are obtained for a given set of actuated joint coordinates. By regarding the discriminant of the repeated roots of the quartic equation as an implicit function of two actuated joint coordinates, the direct kinematic singularity loci in the joint space are determined by the implicit function. Cusp points are then obtained by the intersection of a quadratic curve and a cubic curve. Two assembly changing motions by encircling different cusp points are highlighted, for each pair of solutions with the same sign of the determinants of the direct Jacobian matrices.
Earth rover is a class of emerging wheeled-leg robots for nature exploration. At present, few methods for these robots’ leg design utilize a side-mounted spatial parallel mechanism. Thus, this paper presents a complete design process of a novel 5-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) hybrid leg mechanism for our quadruped earth rover BJTUBOT. First, a general approach is proposed for constructing the novel leg mechanism. Subsequently, by evaluating the basic locomotion task (LT) of the rover based on screw theory, we determine the desired motion characteristic of the side-mounted leg and carry out its two feasible configurations. With regard to the synthesis method of the parallel mechanism, a family of concise hybrid leg mechanisms using the 6-DOF limbs and an L1F1C limb (which can provide a constraint force and a couple) is designed. In verifying the motion characteristics of this kind of leg, we select a typical (3-UPRU&RRRR)&R mechanism and then analyze its kinematic model, singularities, velocity mapping, workspace, dexterity, statics, and kinetostatic performance. Furthermore, the virtual quadruped rover equipped with this innovative leg mechanism is built. Various basic and specific LTs of the rover are demonstrated by simulation, which indicates that the flexibility of the legs can help the rover achieve multitasking.
Many heat transfer tubes are distributed on the tube plates of a steam generator that requires periodic inspection by robots. Existing inspection robots are usually involved in issues: Robots with manipulators need complicated installation due to their fixed base; tube mobile robots suffer from low running efficiency because of their structural restricts. Since there are thousands of tubes to be checked, task planning is essential to guarantee the precise, orderly, and efficient inspection process. Most in-service robots check the task tubes using row-by-row and column-by-column planning. This leads to unnecessary inspections, resulting in a long shutdown and affecting the regular operation of a nuclear power plant. Therefore, this paper introduces the structure and control system of a dexterous robot and proposes a task planning method. This method proceeds into three steps: task allocation, base position search, and sequence planning. To allocate the task regions, this method calculates the tool work matrix and proposes a criterion to evaluate a sub-region. And then all tasks contained in the sub-region are considered globally to search the base positions. Lastly, we apply an improved ant colony algorithm for base sequence planning and determine the inspection orders according to the planned path. We validated the optimized algorithm by conducting task planning experiments using our robot on a tube sheet. The results show that the proposed method can accomplish full task coverage with few repetitive or redundant inspections and it increases the efficiency by 33.31% compared to the traditional planning algorithms.
To examine the environmental characteristics of the microgravity force and the weathered layer on an asteroid surface, a symmetric wheel brush asteroid sampler is proposed for the collection of particles on the asteroid surface. To study the influence of the wheel brush rotation speed on the sampling efficiency and the driving torque required for the wheel brush, the contact dynamics model between particles and sampling wheel brushes is established and a simulation and experimental verification of the sampling process are conducted. The parameter calibration of the sampled particles is studied first, and the calibrated particle parameters are used in the numerical simulation of the sampling process. The sampling results and the particle stream curves are obtained for the working conditions of different rotation speeds, and the effects of different parameter settings on the sampling efficiency are analyzed. In addition, a set of rotating symmetrical sampling wheel brush devices is built for the ground test, and the dynamic torque sensor is used to test the torque change of the wheel brush during the sampling process. The relationship between the speed of the wheel brush and the driving torque of the wheel brush motor is determined by comparing the simulation results with the test results. Results indicate that when the rotating speed of the wheel brush is faster, the sampling efficiency is higher, and the driving torque required for the sampling wheel brush is greater. Moreover, a numerical simulation analysis of the sampling process of the wheel brush sampler in a microgravity environment is conducted to determine the optimal speed condition, and the brushing test of the wheel brush sampler in the microgravity environment is verified with the drop tower method. This research proposes the structural optimization design and motor selection of a wheel brush asteroid sampler, which provides important reference value and engineering significance.
Continuum robot has attracted extensive attention since its emergence. It has multi-degree of freedom and high compliance, which give it significant advantages when traveling and operating in narrow spaces. The flexural virtual-center of motion (VCM) mechanism can be machined integrally, and this way eliminates the assembly between joints. Thus, it is well suited for use as a continuum robot joint. Therefore, a design method for continuum robots based on the VCM mechanism is proposed in this study. First, a novel VCM mechanism is formed using a double leaf-type isosceles-trapezoidal flexural pivot (D-LITFP), which is composed of a series of superimposed LITFPs, to enlarge its stroke. Then, the pseudo-rigid body (PRB) model of the leaf is extended to the VCM mechanism, and the stiffness and stroke of the D-LITFP are modeled. Second, the VCM mechanism is combined to form a flexural joint suitable for the continuum robot. Finally, experiments and simulations are used to validate the accuracy and validity of the PRB model by analyzing the performance (stiffness and stroke) of the VCM mechanism. Furthermore, the motion performance of the designed continuum robot is evaluated. Results show that the maximum stroke of the VCM mechanism is approximately 14.2°, the axial compressive strength is approximately 1915 N/mm, and the repeatable positioning accuracies of the continuum robot is approximately ±1.47° (bending angle) and ±2.46° (bending direction).
A nonlinear stiffness actuator (NSA) could achieve high torque/force resolution in low stiffness range and high bandwidth in high stiffness range, both of which are beneficial for physical interaction between a robot and the environment. Currently, most of NSAs are complex and hardly used for engineering. In this paper, oriented to engineering applications, a new simple NSA was proposed, mainly including leaf springs and especially designed cams, which could perform a predefined relationship between torque and deflection. The new NSA has a compact structure, and it is lightweight, both of which are also beneficial for its practical application. An analytical methodology that maps the predefined relationship between torque and deflection to the profile of the cam was developed. The optimal parameters of the structure were given by analyzing the weight of the NSA and the mechanic characteristic of the leaf spring. Though sliding friction force is inevitable because no rollers were used in the cam-based mechanism, the sliding displacement between the cam and the leaf spring is very small, and consumption of sliding friction force is very low. Simulations of different torque‒deflection profiles were carried out to verify the accuracy and applicability of performing predefined torque‒deflection profiles. Three kinds of prototype experiments, including verification experiment of the predefined torque‒deflection profile, torque tracking experiment, and position tracking experiment under different loads, were conducted. The results prove the accuracy of performing the predefined torque‒deflection profile, the tracking performance, and the interactive performance of the new NSA.
This paper proposes a novel modular cable-driven humanoid arm with anti-parallelogram mechanisms (APMs) and Bowden cables. The lightweight arm realizes the advantage of joint independence and the rational layout of the driving units on the base. First, this paper analyzes the kinematic performance of the APM and uses the rolling motion between two ellipses to approximate a pure-circular-rolling motion. Then, a novel type of one-degree-of-freedom (1-DOF) elbow joint is proposed based on this principle, which is also applied to design the 3-DOF wrist and shoulder joints. Next, Bowden cables are used to connect the joints and their driving units to obtain a modular cable-driven arm with excellent joint independence. After that, both the forward and inverse kinematics of the entire arm are analyzed. Last, a humanoid arm prototype was developed, and the assembly velocity, joint motion performance, joint stiffness, load carrying, typical humanoid arm movements, and repeatability were tested to verify the arm performance.
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.
Multiobjective trajectory planning is still face challenges due to certain practical requirements and multiple contradicting objectives optimized simultaneously. In this paper, a multiobjective trajectory optimization approach that sets energy consumption, execution time, and excavation volume as the objective functions is presented for the electro-hydraulic shovel (EHS). The proposed cubic polynomial S-curve is employed to plan the crowd and hoist speed of EHS. Then, a novel hybrid constrained multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition is proposed to deal with this constrained multiobjective optimization problem. The normalization of objectives is introduced to minimize the unfavorable effect of orders of magnitude. A novel hybrid constraint handling approach based on ε-constraint and the adaptive penalty function method is utilized to discover infeasible solution information and improve population diversity. Finally, the entropy weight technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution method is used to select the most satisfied solution from the Pareto optimal set. The performance of the proposed strategy is validated and analyzed by a series of simulation and experimental studies. Results show that the proposed approach can provide the high-quality Pareto optimal solutions and outperforms other trajectory optimization schemes investigated in this article.
The limited length shrinkage of shape memory alloy (SMA) wire seriously limits the motion range of SMA-based gripper. In this paper, a new soft finger without silicone gel was designed based on pre bent SMA wire, and the finger was back to its original shape by heating SMA wire, rather than relying only on heat exchange with the environment. Through imitating palm movement, a structure with adjustable spacing between fingers was made using SMA spring and rigid spring. The hook structure design at the fingertip can form self-locking to further improve the load capacity of gripper. Through the long thin rod model, the relationship of the initial pre bent angle on the bending angle and output force of the finger was analyzed. The stress-strain model of SMA spring was established for the selection of rigid spring. Three grasping modes were proposed to adapt to the weight of the objects. Through the test of the gripper, it was proved that the gripper had large bending amplitude, bending force, and response rate. The design provides a new idea for the lightweight design and convenient design of soft gripper based on SMA.
Small pipes exist in industrial and biomedical fields, and require microrobots with high operational precision and large load capacity to inspect or perform functional tasks. A piezoelectric inertial pipeline robot using a “stick-slip” mechanism was proposed to address this requirement. In this study, the driving principle of the proposed robot was analyzed, and the strategy of the design scheme was presented. A dynamics model of the stick-slip system was established by combining the dynamics model of the driving foot system and the LuGre friction model, and the simulation analysis of the effect of system parameters on the operating trajectory was performed. An experimental system was established to examine the output characteristics of the proposed robot. Experimental results show that the proposed pipeline robot with inertial stick-slip mechanism has a great load capacity of carrying 4.6 times (70 g) its own mass and high positioning accuracy. The speed of the pipeline robot can reach up to 3.5 mm/s (3 mm/s) in the forward (backward) direction, with a minimum step distance of 4 μm. Its potential application for fine operation in the pipe is exhibited by a demonstration of contactless transport.
Many organisms have attachment organs with excellent functions, such as adhesion, clinging, and grasping, as a result of biological evolution to adapt to complex living environments. From nanoscale to macroscale, each type of adhesive organ has its own underlying mechanisms. Many biological adhesive mechanisms have been studied and can be incorporated into robot designs. This paper presents a systematic review of reversible biological adhesive methods and the bioinspired attachment devices that can be used in robotics. The study discussed how biological adhesive methods, such as dry adhesion, wet adhesion, mechanical adhesion, and sub-ambient pressure adhesion, progress in research. The morphology of typical adhesive organs, as well as the corresponding attachment models, is highlighted. The current state of bioinspired attachment device design and fabrication is discussed. Then, the design principles of attachment devices are summarized in this article. The following section provides a systematic overview of climbing robots with bioinspired attachment devices. Finally, the current challenges and opportunities in bioinspired attachment research in robotics are discussed.
Robotic-assisted surgical system has introduced a powerful platform through dexterous instrument and hand−eye coordination intuitive control. The knowledge of laparoscopic vision is a crucial piece of information for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery focusing on improved surgical outcomes. Obtaining the transformation with respect to the laparoscope and robot slave arm frames using hand−eye calibration is essential, which is a key component for developing intuitive control algorithm. We proposed a novel two-step modified dual quaternion for hand−eye calibration in this study. The dual quaternion was exploited to solve the hand−eye calibration simultaneously and powered by an iteratively separate solution. The obtained hand−eye calibration result was applied to the intuitive control by using the hand−eye coordination criterion. Promising simulations and experimental studies were conducted to evaluate the proposed method on our surgical robot system. We extensively compared the proposed method with state-of-the-art methods. Results demonstrate this method can improve the calibration accuracy. The effectiveness of the intuitive control algorithm was quantitatively evaluated, and an improved hand−eye calibration method was developed. The relationship between laparoscope and robot kinematics can be established for intuitive control.
This study presents a family of novel translational parallel mechanisms (TPMs) with single-loop topological structures. The proposed mechanism consists of only revolute and prismatic joints. The novel TPMs are simpler in structure and have fewer joints and components than the well-known Delta Robot. Four types of 2-degree of freedom driving systems are applied to different limb structures to avoid the moving actuator that causes the problem of increased moving mass. Four sample TPMs are constructed using the synthesized limbs, and one of them is investigated in terms of kinematic performance. First, a position analysis is performed and validated through numerical simulation to reveal the characteristics of partially decoupled motion, which improves the controllability of TPM. Second, singular configurations are identified, and the resulting singularity curve is obtained. Lastly, the workspace of TPM is analyzed, and the relationship between the singular configurations and the reachable workspace is explored. The workspace of the 3-CRR (C denotes the cylindrical joint and R denotes the revolute joint) translational mechanism is also presented to prove that the proposed TPM has a fairly large workspace.
This study traces the development of dexterous hand research and proposes a novel antagonistic variable stiffness dexterous finger mechanism to improve the safety of dexterous hand in unpredictable environments, such as unstructured or man-made operational errors through comprehensive consideration of cost, accuracy, manufacturing, and application. Based on the concept of mechanical passive compliance, which is widely implemented in robots for interactions, a finger is dedicated to improving mechanical robustness. The finger mechanism not only achieves passive compliance against physical impacts, but also implements the variable stiffness actuator principle in a compact finger without adding supererogatory actuators. It achieves finger stiffness adjustability according to the biologically inspired stiffness variation principle of discarding some mobilities to adjust stiffness. The mechanical design of the finger and its stiffness adjusting methods are elaborated. The stiffness characteristics of the finger joint and the actuation unit are analyzed. Experimental results of the finger joint stiffness identification and finger impact tests under different finger stiffness presets are provided to verify the validity of the model. Fingers have been experimentally proven to be robust against physical impacts. Moreover, the experimental part verifies that fingers have good power, grasping, and manipulation performance.
The loss of hand functions in upper limb amputees severely restricts their mobility in daily life. Wearing a humanoid prosthetic hand would be an effective way of restoring lost hand functions. In a prosthetic hand design, replicating the natural and dexterous grasping functions with a few actuators remains a big challenge. In this study, a function-oriented optimization design (FOD) method is proposed for the design of a tendon-driven humanoid prosthetic hand. An optimization function of different functional conditions of full-phalanx contact, total contact force, and force isotropy was constructed based on the kinetostatic model of a prosthetic finger for the evaluation of grasping performance. Using a genetic algorithm, the optimal geometric parameters of the prosthetic finger could be determined for specific functional requirements. Optimal results reveal that the structure of the prosthetic finger is significantly different when designed for different functional requirements and grasping target sizes. A prosthetic finger was fabricated and tested with grasping experiments. The mean absolute percentage error between the theoretical value and the experimental result is less than 10%, demonstrating that the kinetostatic model of the prosthetic finger is effective and makes the FOD method possible. This study suggests that the FOD method enables the systematic evaluation of grasping performance for prosthetic hands in the design stage, which could improve the design efficiency and help prosthetic hands meet the design requirements.
Cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) is a type of high-performance robot that integrates cable-driven kinematic chains and parallel mechanism theory. It inherits the high dynamics and heavy load capacities of the parallel mechanism and significantly improves the workspace, cost and energy efficiency simultaneously. As a result, CDPRs have had irreplaceable roles in industrial and technological fields, such as astronomy, aerospace, logistics, simulators, and rehabilitation. CDPRs follow the cutting-edge trend of rigid–flexible fusion, reflect advanced lightweight design concepts, and have become a frontier topic in robotics research. This paper summarizes the kernel theories and developments of CDPRs, covering configuration design, cable-force distribution, workspace and stiffness, performance evaluation, optimization, and motion control. Kinematic modeling, workspace analysis, and cable-force solution are illustrated. Stiffness and dynamic modeling methods are discussed. To further promote the development, researchers should strengthen the investigation in configuration innovation, rapid calculation of workspace, performance evaluation, stiffness control, and rigid–flexible coupling dynamics. In addition, engineering problems such as cable materials, reliability design, and a unified control framework require attention.
With the proposal of intelligent mines, unmanned mining has become a research hotspot in recent years. In the field of autonomous excavation, environmental perception and excavation trajectory planning are two key issues because they have considerable influences on operation performance. In this study, an unmanned electric shovel (UES) is developed, and key robotization processes consisting of environment modeling and optimal excavation trajectory planning are presented. Initially, the point cloud of the material surface is collected and reconstructed by polynomial response surface (PRS) method. Then, by establishing the dynamical model of the UES, a point to point (PTP) excavation trajectory planning method is developed to improve both the mining efficiency and fill factor and to reduce the energy consumption. Based on optimal trajectory command, the UES performs autonomous excavation. The experimental results show that the proposed surface reconstruction method can accurately represent the material surface. On the basis of reconstructed surface, the PTP trajectory planning method rapidly obtains a reasonable mining trajectory with high fill factor and mining efficiency. Compared with the common excavation trajectory planning approaches, the proposed method tends to be more capable in terms of mining time and energy consumption, ensuring high-performance excavation of the UES in practical mining environment.
As a wearable and intelligent system, a lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot can provide auxiliary rehabilitation training for patients with lower limb walking impairment/loss and address the existing problem of insufficient medical resources. One of the main elements of such a human–robot coupling system is a control system to ensure human–robot coordination. This review aims to summarise the development of human–robot coordination control and the associated research achievements and provide insight into the research challenges in promoting innovative design in such control systems. The patients’ functional disorders and clinical rehabilitation needs regarding lower limbs are analysed in detail, forming the basis for the human–robot coordination of lower limb rehabilitation robots. Then, human–robot coordination is discussed in terms of three aspects: modelling, perception and control. Based on the reviewed research, the demand for robotic rehabilitation, modelling for human–robot coupling systems with new structures and assessment methods with different etiologies based on multi-mode sensors are discussed in detail, suggesting development directions of human–robot coordination and providing a reference for relevant research.
The inverse kinematics problems of robots are usually decomposed into several Paden–Kahan subproblems based on the product of exponential model. However, the simple combination of subproblems cannot solve all the inverse kinematics problems, and there is no common approach to solve arbitrary three-joint subproblems in an arbitrary postural relationship. The novel algebraic geometric (NAG) methods that obtain the general closed-form inverse kinematics for all types of three-joint subproblems are presented in this paper. The geometric and algebraic constraints are used as the conditions precedent to solve the inverse kinematics of three-joint subproblems. The NAG methods can be applied in the inverse kinematics of three-joint subproblems in an arbitrary postural relationship. The inverse kinematics simulations of all three-joint subproblems are implemented, and simulation results indicating that the inverse solutions are consistent with the given joint angles validate the general closed-form inverse kinematics. Huaque III minimally invasive surgical robot is used as the experimental platform for the simulation, and a master–slave tracking experiment is conducted to verify the NAG methods. The simulation result shows the inverse solutions and six sets given joint angles are consistent. Additionally, the mean and maximum of the master–slave tracking experiment for the closed-form solution are 0.1486 and 0.4777 mm, respectively, while the mean and maximum of the master–slave tracking experiment for the compensation method are 0.3188 and 0.6394 mm, respectively. The experiments results demonstrate that the closed-form solution is superior to the compensation method. The results verify the proposed general closed-form inverse kinematics based on the NAG methods.
Owing to their inherent great flexibility, good compliance, excellent adaptability, and safe interactivity, soft robots have shown great application potential. The advantages of light weight, high efficiency, non-polluting characteristic, and environmental adaptability provide pneumatic soft robots an important position in the field of soft robots. In this paper, a soft robot with 10 soft modules, comprising three uniformly distributed endoskeleton pneumatic artificial muscles, was developed. The robot can achieve flexible motion in 3D space. A novel kinematic modeling method for variable-curvature soft robots based on the minimum energy method was investigated, which can accurately and efficiently analyze forward and inverse kinematics. Experiments show that the robot can be controlled to move to the desired position based on the proposed model. The prototype and modeling method can provide a new perspective for soft robot design, modeling, and control.
