14 accepted papers
Virtual mass simulation is one of the recent topics in the field of haptic devices (HDs), which can alter the apparent mass of the HD. Simulating negative values of virtual mass leads to a decrease in the apparent effective mass, improving transparency but weakening stability. Positive virtual mass …
Haptic devices (HDs) play a vital role in simulating the sense of touch in various virtual environments (VEs). Ensuring stable interaction between the HD and the VE is critical, particularly when simulating stiff virtual objects. One approach to enhancing stability is increasing the sampling rate; h…
Haptic devices (HDs) play a vital role in simulating the sense of touch in various virtual environments (VEs). Ensuring stable interaction between the HD and the VE is critical, particularly when simulating stiff virtual objects. One approach to enhancing stability is increasing the sampling rate; h
Research on human-friendly robots focuses on safety through software and hardware. Hardware-based safety offers a significant advantage over software-based safety if an accurate hardware model is integrated into the solution. Design of elastic and off-joint actuation has established safety by hardwa
In collaborative robotics, the safety of humans interacting with cobots is crucial. There is a need for collaborative robots that can move quickly while still being safe. This paper introduces the use of a kinematically redundant actuator in impedance control mode to reduce collision forces, aiming
Actuation concepts such as Series Elastic Actuation (SEA), Parallel Elastic Actuation (PEA), and Biarticular Actuation (BA), which introduce elastic elements into the structure, have the potential to reduce the electrical energy consumption of a robot. This letter presents an optimization of the arr
Redundant actuators enable to distribute power among two motors, which can be selected optimally in terms of efficiency. We propose a methodology that finds effective combinations of motors and gearboxes for a dynamic load, taking into account the constraints, inertia, and efficiency of each compone
Gravity compensators are passive devices that can lower the energy consumption of lifting systems by reducing the force/torque required from human users or actuators. This letter presents a prismatic gravity compensator for cranes, gantry, and other lifting systems. It is capable of statically balan
Research towards (compliant) actuators, especially redundant ones like the Series Parallel Elastic Actuator (SPEA), has led to the development of drive trains, which have demonstrated to increase efficiency, torque-to-mass-ratio, power-to-mass ratio, etc. In the field of robotics such drive trains c…
In this letter, we present the kinematically redundant series elastic dual-motor actuator (SEDMA). It consists of two motors, coupled to a series spring through a planetary differential. The redundant degree of freedom of this system can be exploited to optimize a specific aspect of the actuation ta
Driven by the desire of amputees to reduce their physical shortcomings, prosthetic feet evolved from passive to propulsive bionic feet, actuated by different types of compliant actuators to provide the push-off power and with the advantage of reducing the motor power requirements. The two-latest in-
Modern actuation schematics become increasingly ingenious by deploying springs and locking mechanisms in series and/or parallel. Many of these solutions are, however, tailored for a specific application and a general schematic that allows for drastic energy reduction remains a challenge. We have dev
In recent years, many works have appeared, which present novel mechanical designs, control strategies, or trajectory planning algorithms for improved energy efficiency. The actuator model is an essential part of these works, since the optimization of energy consumption strongly depends of the accura
Series-Parallel Elastic Actuators (SPEA) enable variable recruitment of parallel springs and variable load cancellation. In previous work, we validated a MACCEPA-based SPEA prototype with a self-closing intermittent mechanism, to reduce motor load and improve energy efficiency. However, the mechanis…