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Series elastic actuators for high fidelity force control

Jerry Pratt (Jerry Pratt is with Yobotics Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA.)
Ben Krupp (Ben Krupp is with Yobotics Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA.)
Chris Morse (Chris Morse is with Yobotics Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA.)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 1 June 2002

4751

Abstract

Series elastic actuators provide many benefits in force control of robots in unconstrained environments. These benefits include high force fidelity, extremely low impedance, low friction, and good force control bandwidth. Series elastic actuators employ a novel mechanical design architecture which goes against the common machine design principal of “stiffer is better”. A compliant element is placed between the gear train and driven load to intentionally reduce the stiffness of the actuator. A position sensor measures the deflection, and the force output is accurately calculated using Hooke’s Law (F = Kx). A control loop then servos the actuator to the desired output force. The resulting actuator has inherent shock tolerance, high force fidelity and extremely low impedance. These characteristics are desirable in many applications including legged robots, exoskeletons for human performance amplification, robotic arms, haptic interfaces, and adaptive suspensions.

Keywords

Citation

Pratt, J., Krupp, B. and Morse, C. (2002), "Series elastic actuators for high fidelity force control", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 234-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/01439910210425522

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited

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