WO2018159400A1

WO2018159400A1 - Active manipulator device

Info

Publication number: WO2018159400A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/006154
Authority: WO
Inventors: 翔一郎井出; 敦西川
Original assignee: 国立大学法人信州大学
Priority date: 2017-02-28
Filing date: 2018-02-21
Publication date: 2018-09-07
Also published as: JP2018140463A

Abstract

The present invention is provided with: a first member (22) and a second member (24), each of which is provided with an arcuate contact part (22b, 24b); a carrier (26) disposed between the central axes of the arcs of each of the contact parts (22b, 24b), the carrier (26) supporting the first member (22) and the second member (24) so as to be capable of rotating relative to each other while causing the contact parts (22b, 24b) to face and come into contact with each other; a pulley (28) secured to the carrier (26) and provided coaxially with the shaft of the first member (22); and a fibrous actuator (30a, 30b) provided so as to be linked to the pulley (28), the fibrous actuator (30a, 30b) extending and retracting by control of energization. It is possible to realize an active manipulator device in which a large rotation angle is obtained using a fibrous actuator.

Description

Active manipulator device

The present invention relates to an active manipulator device using a fibrous actuator as a drive source.

In recent years, contraction-type high-torque actuators such as SCP (super-coiled polymer) actuators (fiber actuators) twisted in a coil shape and SMA (shape memory alloy) actuators using shape memory alloys have been developed. Yes. The SCP actuator is a twisted synthetic fiber in a coil shape that shrinks when heated (fiber) and returns to its original length when cooled. Such an actuator has a high output weight ratio and responsiveness, and since it is a synthetic fiber, it can be manufactured at low cost, and is being applied as an actuator used in a low-cost robot (Non-patent Documents 1 to 4).

The SCP actuator described above is a so-called heat-driven actuator that contracts in the length direction when heated, and expands in the length direction when cooled and returns to its original state. As a thermally driven actuator, an actuator formed by twisting a conductive nylon fiber into a coil shape is known. When a voltage is applied across the conductive fibrous actuator, the fibrous actuator is heated and contracted by Joule heat, and when the voltage application is released, the fibrous actuator returns to its original state. Thus, the conductive fibrous actuator can be used as an actuator that expands and contracts in the length direction by ON-OFF control of the voltage applied between both ends.

However, the contraction rate of the fibrous actuator acting as a heat-driven type is about 10 to 20%, and the rotary joint mechanism using pulleys and pins cannot sufficiently drive the joint.
In addition, since the generated force of a single actuator obtained by heating a fibrous actuator is about 1 N, it is necessary to integrate the actuator to obtain a large generated force when mounted on a joint mechanism of a robot. . However, when a fibrous actuator is integrated, the contraction rate of the actuator is further reduced as compared with a case where the actuator is used alone, so that a long actuator must be used.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention makes it possible to obtain a large rotation angle by using a heat-driven fibrous actuator that is expanded and contracted by controlling heating and cooling, and is suitably used for various applications such as a robot apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an active manipulator device that can be used.

An active manipulator device according to the present invention is disposed between a first member and a second member each having an arc-shaped contact portion, and a center axis of an arc of each of the contact portions, and the contact portions are opposed to each other. A carrier that rotatably supports the first member and the second member while being in contact with each other; a pulley that is fixed to the carrier and provided concentrically with the shaft of the first member; And a heat-driven actuator that is connected to the pulley and is driven to expand and contract by heating and cooling.
In addition, as the active manipulator device according to the present invention, an energization type actuator that is extended and contracted by energization can be used as well as a thermally driven actuator that is extended and contracted by heating and cooling.

The heat-driven actuator is configured to expand and contract in accordance with heating / cooling action (for example, twisting a fiber in a coil shape) and controls heating / cooling of a functional part (movable part: expansion / contraction part). Thus, the expansion / contraction action can be controlled. As a method of heating / cooling the functional part, an appropriate method such as heating with a heater or the like can be used. However, a method of heating / cooling by using current is effective, and particularly a fibrous material having conductivity. The actuator is advantageous in that it can control the generation of Joule heat by connecting electrodes at both ends thereof and performing ON / OFF control of energization, and can easily perform heating and cooling operations.
In addition, as an energization type actuator that is extended and contracted by controlling energization, an actuator that is extended and contracted by heating and cooling is effective, and a fibrous actuator imparted with conductivity can be suitably used.

The contact portion is formed as a gear portion, so that the first member and the second member are reliably engaged with each other, and a stable rotation operation is possible.
The first member may be configured as a circular gear, and the second member may be configured as a circular gear, or the first member is provided with an arc-shaped gear portion on one end side of the substrate. The two members may be configured by providing an arcuate gear portion on one end side of the substrate.
In the case of providing the thermal drive type or energization type actuator, by providing a pair of thermal drive type actuators or energization type actuators in an arrangement in which the stretching force antagonizes via the pulleys, The moving operation is stable and the accuracy of the rotating operation can be improved.

Further, the first unit and the second member are combined as a single unit, and the drive unit includes a configuration in which the pair of thermally driven or energized actuators are attached to the substrate of the first member. The active manipulator device thus made can be suitably used as a basic unit when configuring a robot device or the like.
Further, the drive unit is formed into an articulated type in which a plurality of drive units are connected, and the substrate of one of the adjacent drive units and the substrate of the other drive unit are arranged in series or in the direction of the substrate. An active manipulator device connected as an intersecting cross shape can be suitably used as an articulated active manipulator device.

The active manipulator device according to the present invention can be provided as a joint mechanism (bending mechanism) that can obtain a large rotation angle by using a fibrous actuator having a small contraction rate, and is small and easily used for a robot or the like. It can be provided as a device that can

It is a figure which shows the basic composition and the effect | action of an active manipulator apparatus. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the radius of a pulley, the radius ratio of a gear, and the contraction amount of the fibrous actuator for achieving a target joint angle. It is an external appearance photograph of the prototype active manipulator device. It is an external appearance photograph of an experimental apparatus. It is a block diagram of an experimental apparatus. It is a graph which shows the value of rotation angle (theta) and joint angle q in the steady state for every trial. It is a graph which shows the behavior of rotation angle theta and joint angle q in the 3rd trial. It is a perspective view which shows the structure and effect | action of a drive unit. It is a perspective view of the active manipulator apparatus which connected two drive units. It is a perspective view of the active manipulator apparatus which connected three drive units. It is a perspective view of the walking robot comprised using the drive unit. It is a perspective view of the holding type robot constituted using a drive unit. It is a perspective view of the endoscope robot comprised using the drive unit. It is a figure which shows the usage example of an endoscope robot.

(Configuration example of active manipulator device)
In the active manipulator device according to the present invention, a rolling joint mechanism is adopted as a mechanism of the joint portion (bending portion) in order to obtain a large rotation angle using a fibrous actuator having a small contraction rate. To do.
FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an active manipulator device. In this active manipulator device, the sun gear 10 and the planetary gear 12 are supported by being linked to each other between the central axes via the carrier 14, and the sun gear 10 and the planetary gear 12 mesh with each other, The planetary gear 12 is configured to freely roll around.
In this example, the sun gear 10 corresponds to the first member of the present invention, and the planetary gear 12 corresponds to the second member.

A pulley 16 is pivotally supported coaxially at the center of the sun gear 10, and the shaft 16 a of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14 are connected. That is, when the pulley 16 rotates, the carrier 14 rotates together with the pulley 16 about the shaft 16a.
A fibrous actuator 18 is stretched over the pulley 16, and the fibrous actuator 18 expands and contracts, whereby the pulley 16 rotates about the shaft 16 a, and the planetary gear 12 rotates together with the pulley 16 via the carrier 14. (The planetary gear 12 rolls on the circumference of the sun gear 10).

An arm 19 is connected to the planetary gear 12, and the planetary gear 12 rolls on the sun gear 10, whereby the arm 19 rotates together with the planetary gear 12.
In FIG. 1, when the fibrous actuator 18 contracts, the planetary gear 12 rotates (rightward) on the circumference of the sun gear 10 and the arm 19 rotates from the upper position to the right position. .

The fibrous actuator has the property of contracting in the length direction when heated, and extending in the length direction and returning to the original state when cooled, and twists the conductive nylon fiber to form a coil. What is formed in the is known.
When a voltage is applied across the conductive fibrous actuator, the fibrous actuator is heated and contracted by Joule heat, and when the voltage application is released, the fibrous actuator returns to its original length. Thus, the conductive fibrous actuator can be used as an actuator that expands and contracts in the length direction by ON-OFF control of the voltage applied between both ends. In the experiment, conductive nylon fiber was used as the fibrous actuator, but the material and form of the fibrous actuator are not limited.

(Joint angle setting)
The joint angle of the active manipulator device shown in FIG. 1 is an angle q [rad] formed by the center line of the sun gear 10 and the center line of the planetary gear 12 when the planetary gear 12 rolls on the sun gear 10. When the rotation angle of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14 is θ [rad], the geometric relationship between the joint angle q and the rotation angle θ of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14 is expressed by the following equation.
q = (1 + r _sg / r _pg ) θ (1)
Here, r _sg [m] and r _pg [m] represent the reference pitch circle radii of the sun gear 10 and the planetary gear 12, respectively.
From equation (1), the joint angle q is (1 + r _sg / r _pg ) times the rotation angle θ of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14. Therefore, the angle amplification factor can be changed by changing the radius ratio r _sg / r _pg .

The relationship between the contraction amount of the fibrous actuator 18 and the rotation amounts of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14 is as follows. When the contraction amount of the fibrous actuator 18 is l _c [m] and the radius of the pulley 16 is r _p [m],
l _c = r _p θ (2)
It is. From the equations (1) and (2), the relationship between the contraction amount of the fibrous actuator and the joint angle q is: l _c = r _p / (1 + r _sg / r _pg ) · q
It becomes.
Here, if the target joint angle and q = q _d, minimal shrinkage of l _cmin of fibrous actuator 18 required to achieve the target joint angle [m] is
l _cmin = r _p / (1 + r _sg / r _pg ) ・ q _d (3)

From equation (3), it can be seen that the minimum length of the fibrous actuator required to achieve the target joint angle varies depending on the radius ratio of the sun gear 10 and the planetary gear 12 and the radius of the pulley 16.
FIG. 2 shows the case where the relationship between the radius ratio of each gear at various pulley 16 radii and the amount of contraction of the fibrous actuator 18 required to achieve the target joint angle is the target joint angle q _d = π / 2 rad. Is shown.
FIG. 2 shows that the minimum shrinkage of the fibrous actuator 18 decreases as the radial ratio of each gear increases. Further, the smaller the radius of the pulley 16, the smaller the contraction amount of the fibrous actuator 18.

(experimental method)
Based on the above relationship, an active manipulator was designed and verified by experiments.
Table 1 shows parameter values of design examples of the active manipulator device. In this design example, the gear was designed with a radius ratio of 2. FIG. 3 shows a prototype active manipulator device.

From the value of the radius of each gear and pulley 16 shown in Table 1, the minimum contraction amount of the fibrous actuator required to achieve the target angle when the target joint angle is π / 2 rad is about 4.7 × 10 ⁻³ m. . Therefore, it is possible to achieve a joint angle of π / 2 rad with a very small contraction amount of 5.0 × 10 ⁻³ m or less.

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the experimental apparatus, and FIG. 5 shows the signal flow. In this experiment, a conductive nylon fiber (AGposs: registered trademark 100/3, Mitsufuji Corporation) was used as a fibrous actuator, and a fibrous actuator was produced in a coil shape based on the method shown in Non-Patent Document 1. .
By applying a voltage to the fibrous actuator, the fibrous actuator is heated by Joule heat and performs a contraction operation.
A fiber actuator is mounted on the active manipulator device, and the command voltage from the control PC (MDV-ASG8310B, Linux (registered trademark), 3.5 GHz) is converted into a DA converter (PCI-3346A, Interface Corporation) and a DC power supply ( Applied to the fibrous actuator via AD-8735D, A & D Corporation.

For the joint angle of the active manipulator device, first, the rotational angle θ of the pulley 16 and the carrier 14 is measured with a potentiometer (CP-2FBJ, Green Sokki Co., Ltd.) attached to the central axis of the sun gear 10, and the AD converter (PEX- 321416, Interface Co., Ltd.) and saved in the control PC with a sampling period of 1 ms. Then, the joint angle q is calculated based on the equation (1).

In the experiment, the generated force of the fibrous actuator alone was weak, and the prototype active manipulator device could not be driven, so two fibrous actuators of equal length were integrated on one side of the pulley and arranged in parallel so as not to twist. The experiment was conducted. The reason why they are arranged in parallel is that when the fibrous actuators are twisted and integrated, the contraction rate may be affected by the friction between the coils.

By connecting the ends of the two fibrous actuators, connecting an electrode to the ends of the fibrous actuator, and applying a voltage between the electrodes, two voltages are applied simultaneously and heated by Joule heat and contracted. The shrinkage rate of the two fibrous actuators integrated was 10%.
In the experiment, the target driving range of the joint angle by driving two fibrous actuators was set to π / 2 rad. The contraction length of the fibrous actuator required to achieve the target drive range is 4.7 × 10 ⁻³ m from the equation (3), and the minimum length of the fibrous actuator required to achieve the target drive range is From the shrinkage rate of the fibrous actuator, it becomes 4.7 × 10 ^-2 m. Therefore, we experimented by mounting a fibrous actuator with a length of 4.7 × 10 ^-2 m.

In the experiment, the state in which the arm of the active manipulator device and the arm connected to the planetary gear are parallel to the center line of the sun gear is defined as an initial state (θ = q = 0). A voltage is applied to the fibrous actuator from the initial state until the joint angle q reaches a steady state.After the steady state is reached, the voltage application is stopped, and after sufficient time has elapsed, the arm is manually moved to the initial state. It was. The applied voltage was 3 V.

(Experimental result)
The operation verification was repeated 15 times by the method described above. FIG. 6 shows values of the rotation angle θ and the joint angle q in the steady state for each trial. FIG. 7 shows the behavior of the rotation angle θ and the joint angle q in the third trial. However, in each figure, the unit of angle is expressed in [deg].
From FIG. 6, the average value of the joint angle q in 15 trials was 85.5 deg, and a large joint angle could be achieved with a short fibrous actuator of 4.7 × 10 ⁻² m. In FIG. 6, a value exceeding the target joint angle of 90 deg is achieved in the first, fifth, and 14th trials, but in the sixth, 10th, and 12th trials, the joint angle is less than 80 deg. There was a difference of up to 30deg in joint angle.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, in all trials, the angle increased from about 2 seconds after the start of voltage application, and the joint angle increased in two steps until the steady state was reached. Was confirmed.
The prototype active manipulator device requires a large torque to drive the joint due to the moment of inertia. The generated force of the fibrous actuator increases as the temperature of the coil (fiber) increases. This is probably because the generated force was not sufficiently increased for about 2 seconds from the start of voltage application, and thus the torque required to rotate the pulley was not obtained.

In addition, the reason for the variation in the joint angle in the steady state is that the state of the fibrous actuator in the initial state (length, rigidity of the coil) in each trial is slightly different. The torque changes due to slight fluctuations in the rate of temperature rise, resulting in a large difference in angular acceleration, and the variation in rotational speed of the joint is reflected in the joint angle in the steady state, and the rotational speed due to the amplification of the angle. It is thought that the effect of the variation in the joints was amplified, resulting in a difference in joint angle.

As a method of solving these problems, a method of stabilizing the rotational speed variation due to torque fluctuation by incorporating a lightweight flywheel adjusted so that the moment of inertia does not become too large can be considered.
It is also considered effective to arrange a pair of fibrous actuators on both sides of the pulley so that the generated forces antagonize and adjust the torque using the springs and damper elements of the fibrous actuator. Human joints are arranged so that two or more muscles antagonize, and each antagonized muscle contracts simultaneously under a certain antagonist ratio and activity, so that the equilibrium point between the antagonist ratio and the joint angle Is in a linear relationship, and it is pointed out that the activity has a linear relationship with the stiffness at the equilibrium point. Therefore, it is possible to perform more stable operation by adopting a control method for simultaneously contracting the fibrous actuators arranged in an antagonistic manner as described above.

(Basic configuration of active manipulator device)
The active manipulator device according to the present invention is characterized in that the second member (planetary gear) is configured to roll through a pulley and a carrier connected to a fibrous actuator.
The configuration example shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which the first member and the second member are circular gears, but the form of the first member and the second member is not limited to the circular gear. As a configuration that satisfies the effect of rolling the second member relative to the first member, for example, a contact portion where the first member and the second member abut is not provided as a gear portion, but is provided as a simple arcuate surface. A method is also possible. However, in consideration of slipping in a contact state, the method of providing the contact portion as a gear portion is effective in that a reliable rolling operation is possible.

Also, the contact portions (contact portions) provided on the first member and the second member do not need to be provided over the entire circumference of the member as in the case of a circular gear. This is because when the active manipulator device is applied as the joint mechanism (bending mechanism), it is not necessary to ensure the rotation angle over the entire circumference. That is, as a form of the first member and the second member, as in the configuration example of the drive unit described later, a contact portion (gear portion) is partially provided at one end of the substrate and abuts (contacts) with each other ) Can be configured such that the second member rolls on the contact portion. Such a configuration is also a basic configuration of the active manipulator device according to the present invention.

(Drive unit)
FIG. 8 shows an example of a drive unit 20 having the same function as the active manipulator device shown in FIG. 1 and having a small and easy-to-use configuration when constructing a robot or the like.
The drive unit 20 includes a first member 22 provided with a gear portion 22b at one end of the substrate 22a, a second member 24 provided with a gear portion 24b engaged with the gear portion 22b at one end of the substrate 24a, A carrier 26 that connects the first member 22 and the second member 24 to each other. The carrier 26 is such that the second member 24 is like a planetary gear with respect to the first member 22 in a state where the gear portion 22b of the first member 22 and the gear portion 24b of the second member 24 are engaged with each other. They are linked to roll.

The first member 22 and the second member 24 are formed in substantially the same shape, and the gear portion 22b of the first member 22 is provided with teeth in an arc-shaped region at the end of the substrate 22a. The gear portion 24b is also provided with teeth in an arc-shaped region at the end of the substrate 24a. In this embodiment, the gear portion 22b and the gear portion 24b have the same diameter, but the gear portion 22b and the gear portion 24b are not limited to the same diameter. By appropriately setting the diameters of the gear portion 22b and the gear portion 24b, the rotation angle of the manipulator can be appropriately set.
Setting the shaft support position of the carrier 26 to the center position of the gear portion 22b and the gear portion 24b is the same as in the example of the active manipulator device described above.

The carrier 26 is connected to the pulley 26 integrally with the carrier 26 with the core position aligned with the center of the gear portion 22 b of the first member 22. The pulley 28 is provided in an arrangement in which the expansion and contraction action by the two

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b is antagonized. That is, the base end of one fibrous actuator 30a is fixed to the end of the substrate 22a of the first member 22, and the base end of the other fibrous actuator 30b is fixed to the end of the substrate 22a. Thus, the

fibrous actuators

30 a and 30 b are arranged in parallel on the side surface of the substrate 22 in a state where the

fibrous actuators

30 a and 30 b are stretched over the pulley 28. By arranging the

fibrous actuators

30 a and 30 b in this way, the

fibrous actuators

30 a and 30 b are mounted on the first member 22 in a compact manner.

The carrier 26 is disposed on both sides of the first member 22 and the second member 24 so as to sandwich the pulley 28 and the substrate 22a, the gear portion 22b, the gear portion 24b and the like. In this way, the rolling operation (rotating operation) by the first member 22 and the second member 24 is stably performed.

FIG. 8B shows a state in which a voltage is applied between both ends of the fibrous actuator 30b to rotate the tip side of the second member 24 downward. By applying a voltage to the fibrous actuator 30b, the fibrous actuator 30b contracts, the pulley 28 rotates, the carrier 26 rotates with the pulley 28, and the second member 24 rotates. No voltage is applied to the other fibrous actuator 30a, and the fibrous actuator 30a is extended by the contraction force of the fibrous actuator 30b.
When the voltage applied to the fibrous actuator 30b is released, the fibrous actuator 30b returns to its original length, and the other fibrous actuator 30a that has been extended also returns to its original length, and the second member 24 is restored. Is also restored to the state of FIG.
When a voltage is applied to the fibrous actuator 30a, the second member 24 rotates upward.

Thus, the drive unit 20 acts as an active manipulator device that rotates the second member 24 upward or downward by controlling the voltage applied to the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b. The drive unit 20 is provided in an arrangement in which the generated forces of the pair of

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b antagonize via the pulley 28, so that the rotation operation of the drive unit 20 can be stabilized.
The operations of the first member 22 and the second member 24 are relative. As described above, the first member 22 is the fixed side and the second member 24 is the movable side. The second member 24 can be used to rotate with respect to the member 22, or the first member 22 is rotated with the second member 24 as a fixed side and the first member 22 as a movable side. Can also be used.

(Configuration example 1)
FIG. 9 shows an example of an active manipulator device assembled by connecting two drive units 20 described above.
In this active manipulator device, the substrate 24a of the second member 24 of the drive unit 20 and the substrate 22a of the first member 22 of the drive unit 21 are connected in an arrangement in which the orientation of the substrates intersects 90 degrees. By connecting the two

drive units

20 and 21 in this way, the active manipulator device can perform a moving operation in which the rotation operation by the drive unit 20 and the rotation operation by the drive unit 21 are combined.

FIG. 9B shows a second member of the drive unit 20 by applying a voltage to the fibrous actuator 30b attached to the drive unit 20 and applying a voltage to the fibrous actuator 30a attached to the drive unit 21. 24 shows a state in which the second member 24 of the drive unit 21 and the drive unit 21 are rotated.
By controlling the voltage applied to the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b attached to the drive unit 20 and the drive unit 21 in this way, the second member 24 of the drive unit 21 is rotated by one drive unit 20 and the other. The operation combined with the rotation of the drive unit 21 is performed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the direction of the substrate when connecting the drive unit 20 and the drive unit 21 is 90 degrees (orthogonal arrangement), but the connection angle when connecting the

drive units

20 and 21 is set appropriately. can do.
In FIG. 9, a configuration for applying a voltage to the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b of the

drive units

20 and 21 is omitted. An electric circuit that applies a voltage to each of the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b is connected to each of the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b of the

drive units

20 and 21.

(Configuration example 2)
FIG. 10 shows an example of an active manipulator device assembled by connecting three drive units described above. In this active manipulator device, three

drive units

20, 21, and 23 are connected in series, that is, the end face of the substrate 24a of the second member of the drive unit 20 and the end surface of the substrate 22a of the first member of the drive unit 21 are connected to each other. The substrate 24a of the second member of the drive unit 21 and the end face of the substrate 22a of the first member of the drive unit 23 are abutted and connected.
By connecting the three

drive units

20, 21, and 23 in series in this way, all the

drive units

20, 21, and 23 rotate on the same rotation surface.

In order to rotationally drive each

drive unit

20, 21, 23, the controller for applying a voltage to each of the

fibrous actuators

30a, 30b attached to each

drive unit

20, 21, 23 is connected to each of the above-described embodiments. It is the same as the form.
The active manipulator device of this embodiment can obtain a larger rotation angle and rotation range by connecting three drive units, compared to an active manipulator device composed of one or two drive units. it can.
In addition, when connecting the

drive units

20, 21, and 23, it is of course possible not to connect all in series as in this example, but to combine the methods in which the directions of the substrates intersect as in the configuration example 1. Is possible.

(Configuration example 3)
FIG. 11 shows an example of an active manipulator device that acts as a walking robot using a drive unit.
This walking robot is configured by attaching

composite drive units

42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d in which two drive

units

20 and 21 are connected to each of the four corners of the casing 40 having an I-shaped planar shape. . Unlike the example in which the two

drive units

20 and 21 shown in FIG. 9 are connected, the

composite drive units

42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d connect the

drive units

20 and 21 in series, and the drive unit 20 and the drive unit 21 are connected. And rotate (bend) in a common rotation plane (in the rotation plane).

The

composite drive units

42a, 42b, 42c, and 42d bend in the front-rear direction of the housing portion 40 by controlling the voltage applied to the

fibrous actuators

30a and 30b. Therefore, the voltage applied to the

fibrous actuators

30a, 30b attached to each

composite drive unit

42a, 42b, 42c, 42d is controlled, and the

composite drive units

42a, 42b, 42c, 42d are the same as the legs that perform the walking motion. The walking motion can be performed by bending the back and forth.

(Configuration example 4)
FIG. 12 shows an example of an active manipulator device that acts as a gripping (clamping) robot using a drive unit.
In this gripping robot, five

composite drive units

52a, 52b, 52c, 52d, and 52e are attached to the end face of a polygonal support member 50. The compound drive units 52a to 52e are obtained by connecting three

drive units

20, 21, and 23, respectively. In the composite drive unit shown in FIG. 10, the

drive units

20, 21, and 23 are connected in series. However, in the composite drive units 52a to 52e of this embodiment, the first member and the second member in the connection position are connected. Incorporates crossing connection methods.
This active manipulator device controls the voltage applied to the fibrous actuators mounted on the

drive units

20, 21 and 23, thereby opening and closing the

composite drive units

52a, 52b, 52c, 52d and 52e like a finger. Can be held (clamped).

(Configuration example 5)
FIG. 14 shows an example of an active manipulator device that is used as an endoscopic robot using a plurality of drive units.
In this active manipulator device, a pair of

support frames

60a and 60b formed in the shape of a regular triangular frame are arranged so that the sides and vertices of the triangle intersect when viewed from the plane direction (the plan view is a star). The

support units

60a and 60b are arranged apart from each other, the support positions (axial support) of the two drive units are arranged on one side of the support frames 60a and 60b, and the drive unit is installed between the support frames 60a and 60b. Six drive units are provided in total, two on each side.
The

drive units

20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e, and 20f are connected to the support frames 60a and 60b by spherical bearings 62, and the drive units 20a to 20f can tilt in any direction.

This active manipulator device controls the voltage applied to the fibrous actuator to expand and contract the fibrous actuator, whereby the drive units 20a to 20f bend and swing the support frames 60a and 60b. Therefore, for example, when the lower support frame 60b is fixedly supported, and the drive units 20a to 20f are selected and bent, the upper support frame 60a that is horizontally supported is tilted from the horizontal position and tilted in the tilt direction. It can be operated.

FIG. 14 shows an example in which the above-described active manipulator device is used as the endoscopic robot 70. By inserting the distal end portion of the endoscope 80 into, for example, the abdominal cavity and driving the drive unit 20 in a state where the operation rod of the endoscope 80 is supported by the support frames 70 a and 70 b of the endoscope robot 70, the endoscope The direction of 80 can be changed as appropriate. The operation of the endoscope robot 70 is performed by controlling a control unit 82 connected to the endoscope robot 70 by a surgical assistant. In an operation using an endoscope, it is necessary to accurately maintain the position of the endoscope. By using the endoscope robot 70, a reliable and safe operation can be performed.
Endoscopic robots that use a fibrous actuator as a drive source have a simpler device configuration and lighter weight compared to conventional endoscopic robots that operate using motors or pneumatic or fluid pressure. There is an advantage that downsizing can be achieved.

Claims

A first member and a second member each having an arcuate contact portion;
A carrier that is disposed between the center axes of the arcs of the respective contact portions, and supports the first member and the second member so as to be capable of rotating with respect to each other while the contact portions are opposed to and in contact with each other;
A pulley fixed to the carrier and provided concentrically with the shaft of the first member;
An active manipulator device comprising: a thermally driven actuator that is connected to the pulley and is driven to expand and contract by heating and cooling.
A first member and a second member each having an arcuate contact portion;
A carrier that is disposed between the center axes of the arcs of the respective contact portions, and supports the first member and the second member so as to be capable of rotating with respect to each other while the contact portions are opposed to and in contact with each other;
A pulley fixed to the carrier and provided concentrically with the shaft of the first member;
An active manipulator device comprising: an energization type actuator provided to be connected to the pulley and driven to extend and contract by controlling energization.
The active manipulator device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a conductive fibrous actuator as the actuator.
The active manipulator device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the contact portion is formed as a gear portion.
The active manipulator device according to claim 4, wherein the first member is a circular gear and the second member is a circular gear.
The said 1st member is what provided the circular-arc-shaped gear part in the one end side of a board | substrate, and the said 2nd member is provided with the circular-arc-shaped gear part in the one end side of a board | substrate. Active manipulator device.
The active manipulator device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a pair of the actuators are provided in an arrangement in which stretching force antagonizes via the pulley.
A drive unit that combines the first member and the second member;
The active manipulator device according to claim 6, wherein a pair of the actuators are attached to the substrate of the first member.
It is formed into an articulated type in which a plurality of the drive units are connected,
The substrate of one of the adjacent drive units and the substrate of the other drive unit are connected as a series shape in which the directions of these substrates are matched or as an intersection shape in which the directions of these substrates are crossed. The active manipulator device according to claim 8.