The Cable-Driven Parallel-Helix-Actuator: Design, Modeling, and Simulation

The interaction between a robot and uncertain environment is inevitable. An actuator with automatic compliance is more eligible and more adaptable with the aid of its stiffness control. Therefore, this paper proposes the Cable- Driven Parallel-Helix-Actuator (CDPHA), a new type of actuator based on rolling screw-nut pair and Cable-Driven Parallel Mechanism ( CDPM ). It converts the motion on the cable into linear motion on Helically Wound Rod (HWR) and it possess the advantages of cable-driven mechanisms and rigid parallel manipulators. The driving theory, structural design and modeling of the actuator, mainly the relationship between the cable tension and HWR's output, the stiffness variation and the motion characteristic in different cable configuration has been described in this paper. Finally, a prototype has been designed and the feasibility has been verified in simulation. Tests showed that the stiffness is controllable, so the actuator is applicable in dexterous manipulations interactive robotics soft robotics and unstructured environments.