Abstract
Wearable robots, like prostheses, active orthoses and exoskeletons for human performance augmentations need a new breed of actuators, capable to exhibit a large number of desirable features: high power/torque density, high efficiency, zero backlash, low reflected mechanical impedance and high bandwidth. To fully meet these requirements, new basic actuation principles have to be investigated. Nevertheless, there is still scope now to innovate the field by combining mature components into new actuation schemes. This paper reports the development of an innovative actuator, expressly conceived as an actuation module for a fully powered whole body exoskeleton. The main design objective has been the enhancement of the torque density and the mechanical efficiency with respect to existing solutions. The final performances of the actuation module are: continuous torque of 500Nm, mechanical efficiency of 85%, zero backlash and total weight of just 6 Kg comprising the structural case.
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Bergamasco, M., Salsedo, F., Marcheschi, S., Lucchesi, N. (2010). A Novel Actuation Module for Wearable Robots. In: Lenarcic, J., Stanisic, M. (eds) Advances in Robot Kinematics: Motion in Man and Machine. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9262-5_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9262-5_13
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