Variable stiffness actuators for fast and safe motion control

Abstract

In this paper we propose Variable Stiffness actuation [1] as a viable mechanical/ control co-design approach for guaranteeing control performance for robot arms that are inherently safe to humans in their environment. A new actuator under development in our Lab is then proposed, which incorporate the possibility to vary transmission stiffness during motion execution, thus allowing substantial motion speed-up while maintaining low injury risk levels. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.