一种变刚度柔性机械手的设计及其性能测试

Design and Performance Test of a Flexible Manipulator with Variable Stiffness

摘要: 随着人机协作领域的快速发展，对机械手的性能要求越来越高。本研究针对机械手在抓取不同形状物体时对承载力和通用性的高要求，设计了一种基于鳍条效应原理的变刚度柔性机械手。该机械手融合了欠驱动技术和柔性材料的优点，展现出卓越的被动柔顺性，并通过变刚度结构设计，显著提升了其承载能力。研究中提出了一种新的变刚度手指设计方案，通过外骨骼集成的概念，实现了机械手的双模态操作能力：低刚度模式下轻柔抓取易损物品，高刚度模式下牢固握持重物。通过ABAQUS仿真和实验测试，验证了变刚度机构对机械手性能的提升效果，结果表明，开启变刚度机构后，机械手的承载能力最高提升了近9.89倍，同时保持了良好的柔顺性。本研究为柔性机械手技术的发展提供了新的解决方案，并为未来的应用提供了广阔的前景。

Abstract: With the rapid development of the field of human-robot collaboration, the performance requirements for robotic arms are increasingly high. This study addresses the high demands for carrying capacity and versatility when the robotic arm grasps objects of different shapes, and has designed a variable stiffness flexible robotic arm based on the fin ray effect principle. The robotic arm integrates the advantages of under actuated technology and flexible materials, demonstrating excellent passive compliance, and significantly enhances its carrying capacity through the design of a variable stiffness structure. A new variable stiffness finger design scheme was proposed in the study, which, by integrating the concept of an exoskeleton, realizes the dual-mode operation capability of the robotic arm: gently grasping fragile objects in low stiffness mode and firmly holding heavy objects in high stiffness mode. ABAQUS simulation and experimental testing were used to verify the performance enhancement effect of the variable stiffness mechanism, and the results showed that after the variable stiffness mechanism was activated, the maximum carrying capacity of the robotic arm was increased by nearly 9.89 times, while maintaining good compliance. This study provides a new solution for the development of flexible robotic arm technology and offers a broad prospect for future applications.