Ma, B., Shaqura, M.Z. orcid.org/0000-0003-3840-6033, Richardson, R.C. et al. (1 more author) (2022) A Study on Phase-Changing Materials for Controllable Stiffness in Robotic Joints. Robotics, 11 (3). 66. ISSN 2218-6581
Abstract
This paper studies the viability of using a class of phase-changing materials for the design of controlled variable stiffness robotic joints which enable the design of robots that can operate in confined spaces. In such environments, robots need to be able to navigate in proximity or while in contact with their environment to reach one or more manipulated target. Joints with controllable stiffness can substantially enhance functionality of this class of robots where relatively higher joint stiffness is required to support the robot weight against gravity and low stiffness is desired when operating in complex or delicate environments. The research work presented in this paper focuses on examining thermorheological fluids (TRF) to design and manufacture thermally controlled variable stiffness joints. Two phase-changing materials are considered in the study: low-melting-point solder and hot-melt adhesive. Both materials are embedded in a custom designed joint fabricated using 3D printing and silicone casting. Joint stiffness was investigated with both materials and reported here. The results shows that the proposed variable stiffness joints with TRF achieve wide ranges of load-deflection ratio varying between 0.05 N/mm (when thermally activated) to about 10 N/mm (in bonding state). On average, the joint can withstand 20 times its total weight when in the bonding state. Design challenges and durability of TRF-based joints are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | variable stiffness; thermally activated joints; thermorheological fluids; phase-changing materials; robotic joint design |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Engineering Systems and Design (iESD) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/S016813/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 11 Aug 2023 10:38 |
Last Modified: | 11 Aug 2023 10:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/robotics11030066 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:202320 |