Development of collision force suppression mechanism for human-friendly robot

This paper presents a collision force suppression mechanism that is installed in the joints of the manipulator of a human-friendly robot. The collision suppression mechanism consists of an outer circular disk, an inner circular disk, torsion springs, compression springs, etc. If the manipulator collides with an object, the suppression mechanism disconnects the manipulator from its joint, and it moves in the direction of the collision force depending on the spring reaction force. Moreover, if the object is eliminated, the end-effector follows a target position with a control method. Through collision experiments, the effectiveness of the mechanism and control method is verified.