Abstract
The article considers the actuated joint designs with added elasticity and equipped with amechanism for changing the value of this elasticity (adjustable stiffness) for robotic manipulators.To date, there are no workable joint actuators with variable stiffness (VSA) in Russia. At the sametime, intensive research is being carried out around the world on various types of such joint actuatorsand manipulators based on them. Although until now all the products created have mostlybeen of an experimental and research nature, in the near future we can expect the appearance andimplementation of prototypes of VSA to solve specific practical problems that make it possible tobuild manipulators with new qualities and improved technical characteristics. Such manipulatorswill be in demand when solving tasks related to contact operations that require increased accuracy,correctness and safety of execution, for example, in situations where a robot and a person arein a single operating space. The aim of the proposed study is to form a scientific and technicalgroundwork in the field of manipulator actuators design with adjustable stiffness in the form ofdeveloping methodological recommendations for designing VSAs for the required specific tasksand for using them as part of manipulation systems. To do this, at the initial stage of the study, thetasks of analyzing and systematizing the existing technical solutions for stiffness control mechanismsand constructing our own VSA for subsequent physical experiments are solved. To date,there are a huge number of different options for the implementation of VSAs, which have their ownadvantages for specific areas of application. There are no optimal devices for all types of tasks.Proceeding from this, it is proposed to conduct a study of VSAs in the three most perspectivetrends, in the opinion of the authors, using fundamentally different options for implementing thevariable stiffness. The combination of completely different options within a single design is proposedto be implemented on the basis of a modular approach to constructing a research VSA,which makes it quite easy and without the use of any special tools to reconfigure the actuator jointfrom one option to another, using at the same time a number of common (typical) modules, whichsignificantly saves resources for the development and study of such an actuator. The article providesa brief description of the design features of the proposed modular research VSA and stiffnesscontrol modules. The results obtained allow us to proceed to the stage of making a mockup VSAmodel and setting up physical experiments to study various types of VSAs.
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