Generalization of Series Elastic Actuator Configurations and Dynamic Behavior Comparison

The Series Elastic Actuator (SEA) has recently been developed by many research groups and applied in various fields. As SEA is the combination of motor, spring, gear and load, various types and configurations of mechanism have been developed as SEAs to satisfy many requirements necessary for the applications. This paper provides a theoretical framework to categorize and compare these various configurations of SEAs. The general structure and model of SEA is provided, and SEA configurations are categorized into Force-sensing Series Elastic Actuator, Reaction Force-sensing Series Elastic Actuator and Transmitted Force-sensing Series Elastic Actuator, based on the relative location of the spring. Criteria such as Force sensitivity, Compliance and Transmissibility of SEA are derived and compared using actual SEAs that have been developed previously.

[1]  Oskar von Stryk,et al.  Design and dynamics model of a lightweight series elastic tendon-driven robot arm , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[2]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  A compact soft actuator unit for small scale human friendly robots , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[3]  Jörn Malzahn,et al.  WALK‐MAN: A High‐Performance Humanoid Platform for Realistic Environments , 2017, J. Field Robotics.

[4]  Kyoungchul Kong,et al.  High-Precision Robust Force Control of a Series Elastic Actuator , 2017, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[5]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  AwAS-II: A new Actuator with Adjustable Stiffness based on the novel principle of adaptable pivot point and variable lever ratio , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[6]  Thomas G. Sugar.  A novel selective compliant actuator , 2002 .

[7]  Sehoon Oh,et al.  Configuration and performance analysis of a compact planetary geared Elastic Actuator , 2016, IECON 2016 - 42nd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.

[8]  Nevio Luigi Tagliamonte,et al.  Double actuation architectures for rendering variable impedance in compliant robots: A review , 2012 .

[9]  Frans C. T. van der Helm,et al.  A Series Elastic- and Bowden-Cable-Based Actuation System for Use as Torque Actuator in Exoskeleton-Type Robots , 2006, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[10]  Zhe Wang,et al.  Realization and experimental test of a body weight support unit for simultaneous position tracking and gravity offloading , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[11]  Sehoon Oh,et al.  Dynamic analysis of Reaction Force sensing Series Elastic Actuator as unlumped two mass system , 2016, IECON 2016 - 42nd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.

[12]  Xiang Li,et al.  Adaptive Human–Robot Interaction Control for Robots Driven by Series Elastic Actuators , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[13]  Sehoon Oh,et al.  Maximum torque generation of SEA under velocity control , 2016, 2016 IEEE 14th International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control (AMC).

[14]  Chien-Liang Fok,et al.  Actuator Control for the NASA‐JSC Valkyrie Humanoid Robot: A Decoupled Dynamics Approach for Torque Control of Series Elastic Robots , 2015, J. Field Robotics.

[15]  Matthew M. Williamson,et al.  Series elastic actuators , 1995, Proceedings 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human Robot Interaction and Cooperative Robots.

[16]  Kyoungchul Kong,et al.  Force control and force observer design of series elastic actuator based on its dynamic characteristics , 2015, IECON 2015 - 41st Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.

[17]  François Michaud,et al.  Differential elastic actuator for robotic interaction tasks , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[18]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  Development and control of a series elastic actuator equipped with a semi active friction damper for human friendly robots , 2014, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[19]  Sehoon Oh,et al.  Design and Control Considerations for High-Performance Series Elastic Actuators , 2014, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[20]  Long Wang,et al.  On the Design of a Powered Transtibial Prosthesis With Stiffness Adaptable Ankle and Toe Joints , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[21]  Manuel G. Catalano,et al.  Variable impedance actuators: A review , 2013, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[22]  Gong Chen,et al.  Human–Robot Interaction Control of Rehabilitation Robots With Series Elastic Actuators , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[23]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  Toward Combining Speed, Efficiency, Versatility, and Robustness in an Autonomous Quadruped , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[24]  Vincent Hayward,et al.  The ultimate haptic device: First step , 2009, World Haptics 2009 - Third Joint EuroHaptics conference and Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems.

[25]  Masayoshi Tomizuka,et al.  Torque Mode Control of a Cable-Driven Actuating System by Sensor Fusion , 2013 .

[26]  M. Tomizuka,et al.  A Compact Rotary Series Elastic Actuator for Human Assistive Systems , 2012, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[27]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  A novel actuator with adjustable stiffness (AwAS) , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[28]  G.A. Pratt,et al.  Series elastic actuator development for a biomimetic walking robot , 1999, 1999 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (Cat. No.99TH8399).

[29]  Jörn Malzahn,et al.  On the Stiffness Selection for Torque-Controlled Series-Elastic Actuators , 2017, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.