Abstract
This paper describes an experimental study of power assist systems proposed by the authors. This power assist systems utilize mechanical elastic elements and optimize stiffness of the elastic elements in order to reduce torque of actuators while generating operator's periodical motions. These systems realize amplification of its operator's torque and optimization of the stiffness simultaneously. However, we haven't carried out experiments using power assist systems which consist of mechanical devices with stiffness adjustability. Therefore, we made an experimental system which has an adjustable stiffness device. The stiffness of the elastic element installed in the experimental system could be adjusted from 1.8[Nm/rad] to 6.6[Nm/rad] within 0.7 seconds. As a result of the experiment, we confirmed that the power assist system can amplify operator's torque and optimize its stiffness. In addition, we experimentally investigated that the elastic element reduced the actuator's torque.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
