Pisetskiy Sergey, Kermani Mehrdad
Western University, London, ON, Canada.
J Intell Mater Syst Struct. 2021 Dec;32(20):2582-2600. doi: 10.1177/1045389X211006902. Epub 2021 Apr 16.
This paper presents an improved design, complete analysis, and prototype development of high torque-to-mass ratio Magneto-Rheological (MR) clutches. The proposed MR clutches are intended as the main actuation mechanism of a robotic manipulator with five degrees of freedom. Multiple steps to increase the toque-to-mass ratio of the clutch are evaluated and implemented in one design. First, we focus on the Hall sensors' configuration. Our proposed MR clutches feature embedded Hall sensors for the indirect torque measurement. A new arrangement of the sensors with no effect on the magnetic reluctance of the clutch is presented. Second, we improve the magnetization of the MR clutch. We utilize a new hybrid design that features a combination of an electromagnetic coil and a permanent magnet for improved torque-to-mass ratio. Third, the gap size reduction in the hybrid MR clutch is introduced and the effect of such reduction on maximum torque and the dynamic range of MR clutch is investigated. Finally, the design for a pair of MR clutches with a shared magnetic core for antagonistic actuation of the robot joint is presented and experimentally validated. The details of each approach are discussed and the results of the finite element analysis are used to highlight the required engineering steps and to demonstrate the improvements achieved. Using the proposed design, several prototypes of the MR clutch with various torque capacities ranging from 15 to 200 N·m are developed, assembled, and tested. The experimental results demonstrate the performance of the proposed design and validate the accuracy of the analysis used for the development.
本文介绍了高扭矩质量比磁流变（MR）离合器的改进设计、完整分析和原型开发。所提出的MR离合器旨在作为具有五个自由度的机器人操纵器的主要驱动机构。在一种设计中评估并实施了多个提高离合器扭矩质量比的步骤。首先，我们关注霍尔传感器的配置。我们提出的MR离合器具有用于间接扭矩测量的嵌入式霍尔传感器。提出了一种对离合器磁阻无影响的传感器新布置。其次，我们改进了MR离合器的磁化。我们采用了一种新的混合设计，其特点是电磁线圈和永久磁铁相结合，以提高扭矩质量比。第三，介绍了混合MR离合器中的间隙尺寸减小，并研究了这种减小对MR离合器最大扭矩和动态范围的影响。最后，提出了一种用于机器人关节拮抗驱动的具有共享磁芯的一对MR离合器的设计，并进行了实验验证。讨论了每种方法的细节，并使用有限元分析结果来突出所需的工程步骤，并展示所取得的改进。使用所提出的设计，开发、组装并测试了几种扭矩容量从15到200 N·m不等的MR离合器原型。实验结果证明了所提出设计的性能，并验证了用于开发的分析的准确性。
