Design and Development of Flexible Robots
Disciplines
Applied Mechanics | Other Mechanical Engineering
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Compliant mechanisms incorporate flexible members which imitate the motion behavior we see in the nature. The flexible links bend to create relative motion between the two neighboring links when subjected to input force, torque, or displacement. They provide several advantages due to their inherent properties such as less number of requirement to achieve desired outcomes, less friction, and thereby improved performance and accuracy. Additionally, due to the advances in additive manufacturing, development of compliant mechanisms is made simpler. Some of the preferable filaments are polyurethane thermoplastic (TPU) and polypreplane (PETG). In this research I worked on the redesign of a soft robot and a compliant five mechanism. The compliant five bar mechanism is designed to be utilized as an actuator to bend the flexible beams while driven by a single motor with gears and a linkage system. The 6 degrees of freedom robot is built and a sensor is attached to the top plate to obtain the mathematical model of the robot using experimental data.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Mechanical Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ayse Tekes
Design and Development of Flexible Robots
Compliant mechanisms incorporate flexible members which imitate the motion behavior we see in the nature. The flexible links bend to create relative motion between the two neighboring links when subjected to input force, torque, or displacement. They provide several advantages due to their inherent properties such as less number of requirement to achieve desired outcomes, less friction, and thereby improved performance and accuracy. Additionally, due to the advances in additive manufacturing, development of compliant mechanisms is made simpler. Some of the preferable filaments are polyurethane thermoplastic (TPU) and polypreplane (PETG). In this research I worked on the redesign of a soft robot and a compliant five mechanism. The compliant five bar mechanism is designed to be utilized as an actuator to bend the flexible beams while driven by a single motor with gears and a linkage system. The 6 degrees of freedom robot is built and a sensor is attached to the top plate to obtain the mathematical model of the robot using experimental data.