Design and kinematical modeling for magneto rheological soft joints

TIAN Liubin, CAI Shibo, BAO Guanjun, YANG Qinghua

(College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China)

Abstract: Aiming at solving the problems of insufficient on security and adaptability for the traditional robot rigid joint, a new principle of robot soft joint based on magnetorheological technology was proposed. The magneto rheological transmission mechanism was embedded in the traditional joint, which combined rigidity with flexibility. The simulation model of the magnetorheological fluid soft joint was established by Ansoft Maxwell software. Parametrization design was proceeded to optimize the mechanical scheme. The variable rigidity model of the proposed soft joint and the kinematic model for angle rotation were established. The theoretical model was verified by simulation with Matlab software. The results indicate that the angle approximately increases linearly as electric current increases and the angle increases faster when work time increases.

Key words: magnetorheological fluid; soft joints; electromagnetic simulation; kinematic model