Variable Stiffness Actuators: Review on Design and Components

Variable stiffness actuators (VSAs) are complex mechatronic devices that are developed to build passively compliant, robust, and dexterous robots. Numerous different hardware designs have been developed in the past two decades to address various demands on their functionality. This review paper give...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 2418 - 2430
Main Authors Wolf, Sebastian, Grioli, Giorgio, Eiberger, Oliver, Friedl, Werner, Grebenstein, Markus, Hoppner, Hannes, Burdet, Etienne, Caldwell, Darwin G., Carloni, Raffaella, Catalano, Manuel G., Lefeber, Dirk, Stramigioli, Stefano, Tsagarakis, Nikos, Van Damme, Michael, Van Ham, Ronald, Vanderborght, Bram, Visser, Ludo C., Bicchi, Antonio, Albu-Schaffer, Alin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IEEE 01.10.2016
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects
Acceleration
Actuators
Design analysis
Design engineering
Impedance
Mathematical models
Mechatronics
Physical human–robot interaction
Robots
Sensors
soft robotics
Springs
Stiffness
Torque
Trajectory
variable impedance actuators (VIAs)
variable stiffness actuators (VSAs)
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Variable stiffness actuators (VSAs) are complex mechatronic devices that are developed to build passively compliant, robust, and dexterous robots. Numerous different hardware designs have been developed in the past two decades to address various demands on their functionality. This review paper gives a guide to the design process from the analysis of the desired tasks identifying the relevant attributes and their influence on the selection of different components such as motors, sensors, and springs. The influence on the performance of different principles to generate the passive compliance and the variation of the stiffness are investigated. Furthermore, the design contradictions during the engineering process are explained in order to find the best suiting solution for the given purpose. With this in mind, the topics of output power, potential energy capacity, stiffness range, efficiency, and accuracy are discussed. Finally, the dependencies of control, models, sensor setup, and sensor quality are addressed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:1083-4435
1941-014X
DOI:10.1109/TMECH.2015.2501019