Transactions of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics
Development and Experimental Evaluation of Human-Robot Safety of a Series Elastic Joint for Supernumerary Robotic Limbs
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Abstract:
Human-robot safety is an important topic in wearable robotics， especially in supernumerary robotic limbs （SRLs）. The proposal of flexible joint improves human-robot safety strategy， which allows physical contact between human and robots， rather than strictly limiting the human-robot motion. However， most researchers focus on the variable stiffness features of flexible joints， but few evaluate the performance of the flexible joint in the human-robot collision. Therefore， the performance of two typical flexible joints， including the series elastic joint （SEJ） and the passive variable stiffness joint （PVSJ）， are compared through dynamic collision experiments. The results demonstrate that the SEJ absorbs 40.7%—58.7% of the collision force and 34.2%—45.2% of the collision torque in the driven-torque below 4 N·m and driven-speed of 3—7 （°）/s， which is more stable than PVSJ. In addition， the stiffness error of SEJ is measured at 5.1%， significantly lower than the 23.04% measured in the PVSJ. The huge stiffness error of PVSJ leads to its unreliability in buffering collision. Furthermore， we analyze results and confirm that SEJ has a more stable human-robot safety performance in buffering dynamic collision. Consequently， the SEJ is suitable in SRLs for human-robot safety in our scenario.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. U22A20204） and the Innovation Foundation from National Clinical Research Center for Orthopedics， Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Foundation （No.23-NCRC-CXJJ-ZD3-8）.
Clc Number:
TP242.6
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