Design of Elastic Joints for a Bionic Parallel Chewing Robot

Abstract

Chewing robots have promising applications in the fields of dentistry, food safety, and prosthetic restoration. The temporomandibular joint structure is an important factor affecting the performance of the chewing robot. The bionic design of human temporomandibular joints plays an important part in reproducing the complex movements of the human masticatory system faithfully. In order to improve the bionic performance of the chewing robot, this paper presents a new elastic constrained joints using elastic elements. The structure uses springs to simulate the visco-elastic properties of the temporomandibular joint disc. With the built-in sensors, the internal forces of the temporomandibular joint can be measured. The trajectory of the bionic chewing robot is planed based on inverse kinematics. Finally, the bilateral condylar forces are measured under different occlusal forces. The results show that this design of elastic constrained joints further improves the robot bionic performance and can effectively detect the forces on the joints of the chewing robot.