Development of a Human Symbiotic Assist Arm 'PAS-Arm' - 2nd Report: Development of an Experimental Model

摘要

We propose a new robotic assist device: a passive assist arm (pas-arm). Pas-arms are intended for direct physical interaction with a human operator, handling a shared payload. A purpose of pas-arms is not to enhance human strength, but to provide virtual guiding surfaces, which constrain and guide the motion of a payload within a shared workspace. Pas-arms are physically passive and implement virtual guiding surfaces by using continuously variable transmissions (CVT) and differential gear. We have developed an experimental model of the pas-arm and its CVT. In this paper, we describe a design of the proposed mechanism.