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Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
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Development of Normally Closed Type of Magnetorheological Clutch and its Application to Safe Torque Control System of Human-Collaborative Robot

Tsuyoshi Saito

Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (JNIOSH) 1-4-6 Umezono, Kiyose, Tokyo 204-0024, Japan, saitot{at}s.jniosh.go.jp

Hiroyasu Ikeda

Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (JNIOSH) 1-4-6 Umezono, Kiyose, Tokyo 204-0024, Japan

In this study, a normally closed (NC) type clutch using magnetorheological (MR) suspension and a rare-earth permanent magnet is proposed as a safety device for human-collaborative robots. This clutch can transmit an effective torque under various conditions and function as a holding brake and a changeable torque limiter. To design this clutch to achieve both good controllable characteristics and safety performance, the normally closed structure with a permanent magnet was realized by placing two facing magnetic poles asymmetrically for efficient generation of the magnetic field, and by adopting the multi-sheet rotor for the improvement of the torque output. As the analysis results show, it was confirmed that the three-sheet rotor obtained about 1.5 times torque output as much as the single-sheet rotor. When the exciting current was 0.8A, the transmitted torque marked the minimum; when the exiting current was 0A, the torque output of approx. 41 Nm was generated with the time constant of 0.15 s.

Key Words: magnetorheological suspension • robot • safety • collaborative operation • clutch • normally closed type • rare-earth permanent magnet.

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 18, No. 12, 1181-1185 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X07084755
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