Actuator Research Articles

Design and Validation of Symmetrical Elastic Elements in Series Elastic Actuator

Abstract In recent years, the demand for robot joint compliance increased with more complex human–robot interaction scenarios. Series elastic actuators (SEAs) are extensively utilized in multiple fields with abilities to provide accurate force control and energy storage. As the main flexible component in SEA, the accurate modeling of the stiffness of the elastic element is essential. However, the existing stiffness models based on classical Euler–Bernoulli beam theory contain large errors with the actual situation, which increases the difficulty of design. In this paper, a typical elastic element is analyzed by the finite element method to investigate its stiffness properties with different geometric parameters. A more accurate stiffness model is proposed for designing elastic elements. The stiffness model is validated by designed experiments, with a fitting accuracy of 98.27%, which significantly exceeds the stiffness model based on classical beam theory. The proposed stiffness model can be applied to design elastic elements that meet specific stiffness requirements.

Design and Control of the Compact Cable-driven Series Elastic Actuator Module in Soft Wearable Robot for Ankle Assistance

Design and Control of the Compact Cable-driven Series Elastic Actuator Module in Soft Wearable Robot for Ankle Assistance

Design, implementation and control of physical series elastic actuated robotic manipulator

This paper discusses Design, Implementation and Control of Series Elastic Actuator (SEA). This model was mainly dependent on usage of mechanical off-shelf components which are weigh cheaper to purchasable models developed by companies. For an appropriate performance-to-cost component selection, cost-constrained design requires careful evaluation of important performance criteria. In addition, we used These models to create force and position tracking controllers that combine PID and disturbance observer control architectures model and practical based. SEA can be used as a compliant actuator, We have been keen to utilize a collaborative robot and tackle the safety issues that arise when robots and humans interact as well as the cost issue. As a result, The goal of this study is to show how to design and install hardware as well as implementing some software programs to produce a fully functioned University of Texas Series Elastic Actuator (UT-SEA).

Energy-Efficient Actuator Design Principles for Robotic Leg Prostheses and Exoskeletons: A Review of Series Elasticity and Backdrivability

AbstractRobotic leg prostheses and exoskeletons have traditionally been designed using highly-geared motor-transmission systems that minimally exploit the passive dynamics of human locomotion, resulting in inefficient actuators that require significant energy consumption and thus provide limited battery-powered operation or require large onboard batteries. Here we review two of the leading energy-efficient actuator design principles for legged and wearable robotic systems: series elasticity and backdrivability. As shown by inverse dynamic simulations of walking, there are periods of negative joint mechanical work that can be used to increase efficiency by recycling some of the otherwise dissipated energy using series elastic actuators and/or backdriveable actuators with energy regeneration. Series elastic actuators can improve shock tolerance during foot-ground impacts and reduce the peak power and energy consumption of the electric motor via mechanical energy storage and return. However, actuators with series elasticity tend to have lower output torque, increased mass and architecture complexity due to the added physical spring, and limited force and torque control bandwidth. High torque density motors with low-ratio transmissions, known as quasi-direct drives, can likewise achieve low output impedance and high backdrivability, allowing for safe and compliant human-robot physical interactions, in addition to energy regeneration. However, torque-dense motors tend to have higher Joule heating losses, greater motor mass and inertia, and require specialized motor drivers for real-time control. While each actuator design has advantages and drawbacks, designers should consider the energy-efficiency of robotic leg prostheses and exoskeletons during daily locomotor activities besides continuous level-ground walking.

Design and Characterization of a Low-Cost and Efficient Torsional Spring for ES-RSEA

The design of torsional springs for series elastic actuators (SEAs) is challenging, especially when balancing good stiffness characteristics and efficient torque robustness. This study focuses on the design of a lightweight, low-cost, and compact torsional spring for use in the energy storage-rotary series elastic actuator (ES-RSEA) of a lumbar support exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is used as an assistive device to prevent lower back injuries. The torsion spring was designed following design for manufacturability (DFM) principles, focusing on minimal space and weight. The design process involved determining the potential topology and optimizing the selected topology parameters through the finite element method (FEM) to reduce equivalent stress. The prototype was made using a waterjet cutting process with a low-cost material (AISI-4140-alloy) and tested using a custom-made test rig. The results showed that the torsion spring had a linear torque-displacement relationship with 99% linearity, and the deviation between FEM simulation and experimental measurements was less than 2%. The torsion spring has a maximum torque capacity of 45.7 Nm and a 440 Nm/rad stiffness. The proposed torsion spring is a promising option for lumbar support exoskeletons and similar applications requiring low stiffness, low weight-to-torque ratio, and cost-effectiveness.

Design, Control, and Experimental Evaluation of A Novel Robotic Glove System for Patients with Brachial Plexus Injuries.

This paper presents the development of an exoskeleton glove system for people who suffer from brachial plexus injuries, aiming to assist their lost grasping functionality. The robotic system consists of a portable glove system and an embedded controller. The glove system consists of Linear Series Elastic Actuators (LSEA), Rotary Series Elastic Actuators (RSEA), and optimized finger linkages to provide imitated human motion to each finger and a coupled motion of the hand. The design principles and optimization strategies were investigated to balance functionality, portability, and stability. The model-based force control strategy compensated with a backlash model and model-free force control strategy are presented and compared. Results show that our proposed model-free control method achieves the goal of accurate force control. Finally, experiments were conducted with the prototype of the developed integrated exoskeleton glove system. Results from 3 subjects with 150 trials show that our proposed exoskeleton glove system has the potential to be used as a rehabilitation device for patients.

Negative-Stiffness Structure Vibration-Isolation Design and Impedance Control for a Lower Limb Exoskeleton Robot

The series elastic actuator (SEA) is generally used as the torque source of the exoskeleton robot for human–robot interaction (HRI). In this paper, an impedance control method for lower limb exoskeleton robots driven by SEA is presented. First, considering the low-frequency vibrations generated by the lower limb exoskeleton robot during walking, the displacement generated by the robot is regarded as an external disturbance to the SEA motor. An SEA structure with negative stiffness structure (NSS) is designed to achieve vibration isolation in the low-frequency excitation region. Second, the dynamics model of the SEA-driven exoskeleton robot system is proposed, and the impedance control strategy is integrated into the proposed system. In addition, the numerical responses of the vibration-isolation system in both time and frequency domains are given, and the designed NSS is designed to achieve vibration isolation. The amplitude-frequency responses of the system are obtained. The harmonic balance (HB) method is used to give the analytical solution of the designed negative-stiffness isolation system, and the effects of different characteristic parameters on the isolation system are analyzed. Moreover, the stability of the SEA-driven exoskeleton impedance control system is demonstrated using the Lyapunov method. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out in order to show the effectiveness of the control method.

Terminal super-twisting sliding mode based on high order sliding mode observer for two DOFs lower limb system

In this paper, a novel backstepping terminal super-twisting sliding mode (TSTSM) with high order sliding mode observer (HOSMO) is proposed to control the two degrees of freedom (DOFs) Serial Elastic Actuator (SEA), inspired by a lower limb of humanoid robots. First, the dynamic model, extended from our previous study, is presented for developing the control algorithm. Secondly, the backstepping technique is utilized to separate the overall system into two subsystems. One of the challenges of SEA is to deal with the evident oscillations caused by the elastic element, which might lead to the degrading performance of load position control. In order to reduce this adverse effect, a TSTSM is proposed to control the position tracking of two subsystems. The advantages of TSTSM are the finite-time convergence despite the bounded perturbation and the dramatic reduction of the chattering phenomenon. To construct and implement the TSTSM controller, it requires the knowledge of all states, which is not available in the current lower limb system setup. Therefore, a HOSMO is utilized to estimate the unknown states. Finally, experiment results are carried out to assess the effectiveness of the proposed controller and compare it with those of different control schemes.

Forced Servoing of a Series Elastic Actuator Based on Link-Side Acceleration Measurement

Joint stiffness of an elastic-joint robot can be changed according to joint stiffness requirements. A series elastic actuator (SEA) can reduce the contact stiffness between the body and the environment or human, which can further ensure interactive operation in a human–machine-compatible environment. However, the introduction of the SEA improves the complexity of the robot dynamics model. In this paper, we propose a control schema based on link-side acceleration measurement to eliminate the overshoot and vibration in the transient process of force control. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm that fuses photoelectric encoders and accelerometers is first presented based on the link-side acceleration measurement. Following this, based on the external torque estimation, the vibration reduction control algorithm is designed. The simulation model is built, and the algorithm design and simulation of position control and force control are carried out and finally tested on the real robot platform. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is proved. The experimental results show that the dynamic response of the external force estimation is about 2 ms faster than that of the force sensor, and the error between the estimated external torque and the real external torque is within ±0.16 N·m.

Hybrid Position‐Compliance Control of Redundantly Actuated Parallel Kinematic Manipulators Equipped with Serial Elastic Actuators

AbstractRedundantly actuated parallel kinematic manipulators (RA‐PKM) are ideal candidates in robotic applications combining dynamic performance with high accuracy. Actuation redundancy further allows for modulation of the end‐effector (EE) stiffness. A recent trend in robotics is the use of inherently compliant and elastic components, eventually leading to soft continuum robots, which shall provide tailored solutions for human‐robot collaboration and assistance applications. One way to introduce compliance is to use serial elastic actuators (SEA). This yields two kinematically decoupled dynamic systems, the RA‐PKM mechanism and the actuation system, that are force‐coupled by (passive) elastic elements. The DOF of the actuation system exceeds the DOF of the RA‐PKM according to the degree of actuation redundancy. Due to the kinematic decoupling the RA‐PKM is underactuated. To address this issue, a flatness‐based feedback‐linearizing position control approach along with a stiffness modulation approach is proposed.

A Method for a Compliant Robot Arm to Perform a Bandaging Task on a Swaying Arm: A Proposed Approach

Bandaging is a regular and indispensable nursing task in daily medical care. The task is challenging for robots because it requires simultaneous control of the bandaging trajectory and tension. The patient’s involuntary swaying due to pain and other reasons may cause further complications. To solve these problems, a compliant robot arm based on the serial elastic actuator (SEA) is selected as the hardware solution for this task. In this article, a method for a force–position-decoupling control strategy is developed for achieving the full process of bandage tension control as well as bandaging trajectory adjustment and following. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed design and methods, using five subjects and a collaborative robot. The results show that the proposed robot arm successfully performs the bandaging task and that the proposed methods can effectively enable the robot to estimate the movement direction and position of the injured arm. The bandage tension can be effectively maintained even when the arm is swaying.

Rapid Robust Control of a Marine-Vehicle Manipulator with Series Elastic Actuators Based on Variable Power Log Reaching Law

Marine-vehicle manipulators, which represent a kind of mechanical systems installed on marine surface or underwater vehicles, are mostly suffering from the problem of waves (or ocean currents)-caused base oscillations. The oscillations have a significant impact on system stability. Numerous control strategies have been investigated, but the majority of them are concentrated on the control’s robust performance. This study focuses on an innovative marine-vehicle manipulator (ammunition transfer manipulator on warships) with novel compliant actuators (series elastic actuators), for which the control performance of convergence speed and flexible-vibration suppression should also be considered. To address these issues, this paper proposes a unique hybrid control based on the singular perturbation method, by which the control problem is decomposed into two time scales. In the slow time-scale, it is given a rapid trajectory tracking controller that integrates the computed torque method and the terminal sliding mode control law with a novel reaching law (variable power log reaching law). For the fast time-scale control, a derivative-type controller is used to achieve the suppression of the flexible vibrations. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method, theoretical proofs and numerical simulations are both presented. According to our knowledge, this study presents the first control strategy for rapid robust control of marine-vehicle manipulators that are subject to base-oscillation-caused disturbance and compliant-actuator-induced flexible vibrations.

Muscular Damping Distribution Strategy for Bio-Inspired, Soft Motion Control at Variable Precision

Bio-inspired and compliant control approaches have been studied by roboticists for decades to achieve more natural robot motion. Independent of this, medical and biological researchers have discovered a wide variety of muscular properties and higher-level motion characteristics. Although both disciplines strive to better understand natural motion and muscle coordination, they have yet to meet. This work introduces a novel robotic control strategy that bridges the gap between these distinct areas. By applying biological characteristics to electrical series elastic actuators, we developed a simple yet efficient distributed damping control strategy. The presented control covers the entire robotic drive train, from abstract whole-body commands to the applied current. The functionality of this control is biologically motivated, theoretically discussed, and finally evaluated through experiments on the bipedal robot Carl. Together, these results demonstrate that the proposed strategy fulfills all requirements that are necessary to continue developing more complex robotic tasks based on this novel muscular control philosophy.

Toward Improving Actuation Transparency and Safety of a Hip Exoskeleton With a Novel Nonlinear Series Elastic Actuator

Actuation transparency and safety are important requirements in the design and control of assistive exoskeletons for individuals who suffer lower limb deficits but still maintain a certain level of voluntary motor control. In recent years, series elastic actuator (SEA) has been regarded as a promising solution for transparent actuation and safe human–robot interaction, thus SEAs are widely developed and applied in assistive exoskeletons. However, existing SEAs designed for assistive exoskeletons still lack both actuation transparency and safety because of high stiffness of the elastic element and the high mechanical impedance of the actuators. To address this problem, a novel nonlinear SEA (nSEA) is presented in this article. The optimized nonlinear series elastic element coupled with a quasi-direct drive motor creates the nSEA with low mechanical impedance, high backdrivability, and less acoustic noise. Besides, a new torque control, based on cascade PI control, is proposed for the nSEA to control the interaction torque with high accuracy and robustness. Finally, an experimental evaluation with human subjects is performed to validate the advantages of the nSEA-driven hip exoskeleton in the realization of actuation transparency and safety. The root-mean-square interaction torque in zero-impedance mode is as low as 0.051 N <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot$</tex-math></inline-formula> m during walking conditions, leading to a negligible negative influence on the hip joint's range of motion, walking speed, and energy expenditure when wearing the hip exoskeleton.

Markovian Transparency Control of an Exoskeleton Robot

In wearable robotics, certain applications require the robot to be transparent, i.e., imperceptible to the user. This is a very difficult cooperative control task due to the inherent coupling between human and robot, unpredictable human movements, and user-dependent behavior. In this letter, we propose a novel transparency controller based on discrete-time Markovian jump linear systems to minimize the human-robot interaction forces of an exoskeleton robot during walking. Our model-based stochastic control approach describes a gait cycle as an event-dependent Markov chain and uses a given transition matrix to switch between them. An IMU-based Kalman filter is used to perform real-time human state estimation and gait phase detection. The robustness and effectiveness of the proposed controller are demonstrated with experiments on a lower-limb exoskeleton driven by series elastic actuators.

Construction of Interaction Parallel Manipulator: Towards Rehabilitation Massage

A massage robot can aid physicians in treating occupational diseases. While massaging, a robotic manipulator is required to continuously exert desired force according to the predefined motion pattern on a body surface. The complexity of the mechanical and control system, high cost, and heavy structure of the existing massage robots result in the limitation of widespread applications at home or small clinics, and some of which can just implement a single massage task. This becomes even more challenging how to integrate multiple massage functions into one robotic system deployed at home or small clinics. To tackle the abovementioned problems, we propose a parallel-mechanism-enabled massage end-effector with compliant joints based on the series elastic actuators, offering a unified force-position control approach and enabling to easily coordinate multiple degrees of freedom. First, the kinematic and static force models are established for obtaining the corresponding control variables. Then, a novel force-position control strategy is proposed to separately control the force-position along the normal direction of the surface and another two-direction displacements, without the requirement of a robotic dynamics model. To evaluate the performance of the proposed massage manipulator, we implement a series of robotic massage experiments and also, carry out a user study. The corresponding results demonstrate that the proposed massage manipulator can successfully achieve desired forces and motion patterns of massage tasks, arriving at a high-score user experience.

Novel Design and Control of a Crank-Slider Series Elastic Actuated Knee Exoskeleton for Compliant Human–Robot Interaction

The lower-limb assist exoskeleton plays the role of torque assiting and compliant tracking for wearers to perform tasks. Accurate torque generation, backdrivability performance, low output impedance, and hardware compactness are essential factors for lower-limb exoskeleton to achieve better compliant physical interaction. This research studies a crank-slider series elastic actuator (CS-SEA) that can be used as a compact exoskeleton joint module. The device has a unique crank slider mechanism, and a set of linear springs are equipped inside the slider to guarantee the nonlinear stiffness of its physical impedance so that the torque effect can be improved and a high level of transparency can be achieved. The RBF-based sliding mode controller is chosen as the output torque controller of the exoskeleton, and the adaptive neuro-fuzzy sliding mode control law is designed and its stability is verified. The precise output force control performance of CS-SEA is verified by experiments. The actuator is incorporated into a knee exoskeleton prototype and was worn by the subjects. The experimental results demonstrate the precision of the compliant transparent and torque assisting control while interacting with the human wearer.

Design and Validation of a Low-Level Controller for Hierarchically Controlled Exoskeletons.

In this work, a generalized low-level controller is presented for sensor collection, motor input, and networking with a high-level controller. In hierarchically controlled exoskeletal systems, which utilize series elastic actuators (SEAs), the hardware for sensor collection and motor command is separated from the computationally expensive high-level controller algorithm. The low-level controller is a hardware device that must collect sensor feedback, condition and filter the measurements, send actuator inputs, and network with the high-level controller at a real-time rate. This research outlines the hardware of two printed circuit board (PCB) designs for collecting and conditioning sensor feedback from two SEA subsystems and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The SEAs have a joint and motor encoder, motor current, and force sensor feedback that can be measured using the proposed generalized low-level controller presented in this work. In addition, the high and low-level networking approach is discussed in detail, with a full breakdown of the data storage within a communication frame during the run-time operation. The challenges of device synchronization and updates rates of high and low-level controllers are also discussed. Further, the low-level controller was validated using a pendulum test bed, complete with full sensor feedback, including IMU results for two open-loop scenarios. Moreover, this work can be extended to other hierarchically controlled robotic systems that utilize SEA subsystems, such as humanoid robots, assistive rehabilitation robots, training simulators, and robotic-assisted surgical devices. The hardware and software designs presented in this work are available open source to enable researchers with a direct solution for data acquisition and the control of low-level devices in a robotic system.

Mechatronics Design of a Gait-Assistance Exoskeleton for Therapy of Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

This paper presents a mechatronics design of a gait-assistance exoskeleton for therapy in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). This type of muscular dystrophy is a severe condition that causes muscle wasting, which results in a progressive loss of mobility. Clinical studies have shown the benefits of physical therapy in prolonging the mobility of patients with DMD. However, the therapy sessions are exhaustive activities executed by highly qualified rehabilitation personnel, which makes providing appropriate treatment for every patient difficult. This paper develops a mechatronics design of a gait-assistance exoskeleton to automate therapy sessions. The exoskeleton design uses adaptable mechanisms to adjust the device to the patient’s needs and includes the design of a series-elastic actuator to reduce the effects of nonalignment of the rotation axis between the exoskeleton and the patient. A mathematical dynamic hybrid model of the exoskeleton and a child’s body is developed using anthropometry of a population of six-year-old children. The hybrid model is used to design a nonlinear control strategy, which uses differential geometry to perform feedback linearization and to guarantee stable reference tracking. The proposed control law is numerically validated in a simulation to evaluate the control system’s performance and robustness under parameter variation during therapy with trajectory-tracking routines.

Series-elastic actuator with two degree-of-freedom PID control improves torque control in a powered knee exoskeleton.

Powered exoskeletons need actuators that are lightweight, compact, and efficient while allowing for accurate torque control. To satisfy these requirements, researchers have proposed using series elastic actuators (SEAs). SEAs use a spring in series with rotary or linear actuators. The spring compliance, in conjunction with an appropriate control scheme, improves torque control, efficiency, output impedance, and disturbance rejection. However, springs add weight to the actuator and complexity to the control, which may have negative effects on the performance of the powered exoskeleton. Therefore, there is an unmet need for new SEA designs that are lighter and more efficient than available systems, as well as for control strategies that push the performance of SEA-based exoskeletons without requiring complex modeling and tuning. This article presents the design, development, and testing of a novel SEA with high force density for powered exoskeletons, as well as the use of a two degree-of-freedom (2DOF) PID system to improve output impedance and disturbance rejection. Benchtop testing results show reduced output impedance and damping values when using a 2DOF PID controller as compared to a 1DOF PID controller. Human experiments with three able-bodied subjects (N=3) show improved torque tracking with reduced root-mean-square error by 45.2% and reduced peak error by 49.8% when using a 2DOF PID controller. Furthermore, EMG data shows a reduction in peak EMG value when using the exoskeleton in assistive mode compared to the exoskeleton operating in transparent mode.