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This paper presents a novel tongue-operated joystick device for severely disabled persons. The human tongue can generate varied movements and has superior tactile sensations. The utilization of tactile sensation enables humans to interactively communicate with life support equipment, such as powered wheel chair and robotic manipulators and to control them skillfully and safely. In this study, the...
We propose a novel variable stiffness joint (VSJ) mechanism that achieves the desired stiffness by using elastic deformation of silicone rubber cushions (SRCs). This mechanism can absorb the forces from multiple direction by the flexibility of SRCs and guarantee high safety. To react adequately against unpredictable collision or to manipulate an unstable object skillfully, a joint should be designed...
This paper proposes a novel tongue-operated joy- stick device for severely disabled persons. The human tongue has superior movement and tactile sensations. By providing force information during the device's operation, user can skillfully control life supporting equipment, such as electric powered wheelchairs, robotic manipulators for meals through interaction with this equipment. Therefore, we designed...
In this study, we observed and analyzed the skillful human motion involved in tossing a ball through a target hole using only wrist and finger motions. In our experiments, two subjects could accomplish this difficult task with skillful finger motion using their wrist, MP, PIP, and DIP joints. Experimental results showed that the ball trajectories from the fingertip of the subjects to the target hole...
We have developed a multi-functional joint mechanism with variable joint stiffness and the ability to sense external forces. In this joint, silicone rubber cushions are employed to adjust the joint stiffness by controlling the pressure in the cushions. In this study, we constructed a basic control system to synchronize joint motion and stiffness with those of a human, for potential application in...
This paper describes a novel human-sized robot hand that has the ability to adjust its joint stiffness and sense external forces. This robot hand consists of four fingers, each with three joints. To downsize the finger modules, the DIP and PIP joints are coupled with a linkage mechanism and actuated by a single motor. In addition, for the MP joint, two kinds of silicone rubber cushion, SRCtrans and...
This paper describes a novel finger mechanism that enables a robot to perform a gentle and dexterous motion. This finger contains three joints, in which the proximal (PIP) and distal intraphalangeal (DIP) joints are coupled rigidly, and the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint has a multidirectional passive compliance that is adjustable as in humans. In the MP joint, two kinds of silicone-rubber cushions...
This paper describes a novel joint mechanism with variable stiffness for a human-friendly robot. In the proposed mechanism, a set of two different hollow-shaped silicone rubber cushions (SRCtrans and SRCstiff : Silicone Rubber Cushion for transmission and for adjusting stiffness, respectively) are sandwiched between an output link and a motor-driven disk. SRCtrans, which is pressed against the motor-driven...
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