A Novel Wire-Driven Variable-Stiffness Joint Based on a Permanent Magnetic Mechanism

The variable-stiffness joint (VSJ) plays an important role in creating compliant and powerful motions. This paper presents a novel wire-driven VSJ based on a permanent magnetic mechanism (PMM). The proposed joint regulates the joint stiffness with lower energy consumption through a wide range via the permanent magnetic mechanism. This effect possibly depends on the novel nonlinear combination of a permanent magnet-spring and wire-driven system that achieves the same stiffness with lower wire tension. A trapezoidal layout of the joint is proposed. Because of the relationship among the stiffness, the position of the joint and the stiffness of the PMM, the stiffness model is also been established. Based on this model, the decoupling controller is built to independently control the position and stiffness of the joint. Experiments show that the VSJPMM achieves position and stiffness independently and also reduces energy and power required to regulate the stiffness compared with the traditional approach. In addition, the proposed mechanism displays a powerful motion and short stiffness adjustment time.