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A Parametric Study of Compliant Link Design for Safe Physical Human–Robot Interaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2021

Yu She Open the ORCID record for Yu She [Opens in a new window] ,
Siyang Song ,
Hai-jun Su  and
Junmin Wang
Yu She*
Affiliation:
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Siyang Song
Affiliation:
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Hai-jun Su
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Junmin Wang
Affiliation:
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: yushe@mit.edu
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Summary

Robots of next-generation physically interact with the world rather than be caged in a controlled area, and they need to make contact with the open-ended environment to perform their task. Compliant robot links offer intrinsic mechanical compliance for addressing the safety issue for physical human–robot interactions (pHRI). However, many important research questions are yet to be answered. For instance, how do system parameters, for example, mechanical compliance, motor torque, impact velocities, and so on, affect the impact force? how to formulate system impact dynamics of compliant robots, and how to size their geometric dimensions to maximize impact force reduction. In this paper, we present a parametric study of compliant link (CL) design for safe pHRI. We first present a theoretical model of the pHRI system that is comprised of robot dynamics, an impact contact model, and dummy head dynamics. After experimentally validating the theoretical model, we then systematically study the effects of CL parameters on the impact force in more detail. Specifically, we explore how the design and actuation parameters affect the impact force of pHRI system. Based on the parametric studies of the CL design, we propose a step-by-step process and a list of concrete guidelines for designing CL with safety constraints in pHRI. We further conduct a simulation case study to validate this design process and design guidelines.

Keywords

DesignModelingCompliant linksVariable stiffness linksPhysical human–robot interaction
Type
Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 39 , Issue 10 , October 2021 , pp. 1739 - 1759
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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