Robot arm including force sensing apparatus
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsHyun-do Cho, Yeon-ho Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A robot arm including a force sensing apparatus capable of accurately sensing of a force in the axial direction of the robot arm during operation thereof, without being affected by a motion of the robot arm. The robot arm includes: a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending in an axial direction; an instrument connected to an operational end of the body; a cable that is connected to a terminal end of the instrument and controls an operation of the instrument; and a force sensing apparatus that is attached to a surface of the body and senses a force acting upon the body, wherein the cable at the terminal end of the instrument is configured to move along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the body.
Claims25
A robot arm, comprising:
- a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending in an axial direction;
- an instrument pivotally connected to an operational end of the body via a hinge;
- a cable that is connected to a proximal end of the instrument and is configured to control an operation of the instrument such that a tension in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction is offset;
- a force sensing apparatus that is attached to a surface of the body and is configured to sense a force exerted upon the body;
- and
- a direction conversion unit that is configured to convert a direction of the cable which is parallel to the axial direction to the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, the direction conversion unit disposed in the body,
- wherein the force sensing apparatus includes,
- at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached on the surface of the body,
- a light source configured to provide light to each of the at least three FBGs;
- a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the at least three FBGs or light passing through each of the at least three FBGs, and
- at least one opening in the body and between two adjacent ones of the at least three FBGs,
- wherein the at least one opening is disposed such that largest deformation occurs in an upper portion of the body where the instrument is installed and a center of the at least one opening is arranged at a position lower than a center of one of the at least three FBGs between the other two adjacent ones of the at least three FBGs, and
- wherein the at least three FBGs are arranged at the upper portion of the body.
The robot arm of claim [1], wherein the at least three FBGs are arranged to extend in the axial direction of the body.
The robot arm of claim [1], wherein the at least three FBGs are attached to the surface of the body at least three different positions at predetermined intervals along an azimuth angle direction.
The robot arm of claim [1], wherein the force sensing apparatus further comprises at least three openings that are formed in the body between each two adjacent FBGs.
The robot arm of claim [1], wherein the body comprises:
- an upper portion and a lower portion separated from each other;
- at least three elastic beams that connect the upper portion and the lower portion of the body and extend in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the body;
- and a plurality of gaps respectively formed between each of the elastic beams and the upper portion of the body and between each of the elastic beams and the lower portion of the body.
A system, comprising:
- a robot arm, including a force sensing apparatus;
- and
- an instrument pivotally connected to the robot arm via a hinge;
- wherein the robot arm includes,
- a body that is elastically deformable and extends in an axial direction;
- and
- a cable that is connected to a proximal end of the instrument and is configured to control an operation of the instrument, such that a tension in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction is offset;
- and
- a direction conversion unit that is configured to convert a direction of the cable which is parallel to the axial direction to the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, the direction conversion unit disposed in the body,
- wherein the proximal end of the instrument which is connected to the cable is disposed between the direction conversion unit and the hinge,
- wherein the force sensing apparatus is attached to the body and is configured to sense a force exerted upon the body,
- wherein the force sensing apparatus includes,
- at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached on the surface of the body,
- a light source configured to provide light to each of the at least three FBGs;
- a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the at least three FBGs or light passing through each of the at least three FBGs, and
- at least one opening in the body and between two adjacent ones of the at least three FBGs,
- wherein the at least one opening is disposed such that largest deformation occurs in an upper portion of the body where the instrument is installed and a center of the at least one opening is arranged at a position lower than a center of one of the at least three FBGs between the other two adjacent ones of the at least three FBGs, and
- wherein the at least three FBGs are arranged at the upper portion of the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.