• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.353-364
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• 1998

This paper describes the design processes and evaluation results of a small-sized six-axis force/torque sensor. The new six-axis force/torque sensor including S-type structure has been developed using a parallel plate structure as a basic sensing element. In order tominimize coupling errors, the location of strain gages has been determined based on the finite element analysis and the connections of strain gages have been made such that the bridge circuit with 4 strain gages becomes balanced. Several design modifications result in a similar strain sensitivity for six-axis forces and moments, and the reduced coupling errors of 2.6% FS between each forces and moments. Calibration test results show that the six-axis load cell developed which has light weight of 135g and the maximum capacities of 196 N in forces and 19.6 N.m in moments is estimated to be within 7.1% FS in coupling error.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.524-529
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• 2016

We describe the design and fabrication of a two-axis force/torque sensor with parallel-plate beams (PPBs) and single beams for measuring force and torque in hip-joint rehabilitation exercise using a lower rehabilitation robot. The two-axis force/torque sensor is composed of an Fz force sensor and a Tz torque sensor, which detect z direction force and z direction torque, respectively. The two-axis force/torque sensor was designed using the FEM (Finite Element Method) and manufactured using strain gages. The characteristics experiment of the two-axis force/torque sensor was carried out. The test results show that the interference error of the two-axis force/torque sensor was less than 0.64% and the repeatability error and the non-linearity of the two-axis force/torque sensor were less than 0.03%. It is thought that the developed two-axis force/torque sensor could be used for a lower rehabilitation robot.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.80-85
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• 2011

This paper presents the design of the power-assisted controller for the in-wheel type smart wheelchair by using torque estimation that is predicted by relationship between input voltage and output wheel angular velocity. Nowadays, interest of the moving assistant aids is increased according to the increase in population of the elderly and the handicapped person. However some of the moving assistant aids have problems. For example, manual wheelchair has difficulty moving at the slope, because users lack the muscular strength of their arm. In electric wheelchair case, users should be weak by being decreased muscles of upper body. To overcome these problems, power-assisted electric wheelchair are proposed. Most of the power-assisted electric wheelchair have the special rims that can measure the user's power. In here, the rims have to be designed to install the sensors to measure user's power. In this paper, we don't design the rim to measure the man power. To predict the man power, we propose a control algorithm of the in-wheeled electric wheelchair by using torque estimation from the wheel. First, we measure the wheel velocity and voltage at the in-wheel electric wheelchair. And then we extract driving will forces by using proposed mathematical model. Also they are applied at the controller as the control input, we verify to be able to control in-wheel type smart wheelchair by using simulation.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2001

The importance of sensing the force and torque with arbitrary direction and magnitude is becoming more crucial for robotic applications and manufacturing automations. Recently, several designs of a multi-axis force-torque sensor have been tried to sense this force and torque. This paper deals mainly with the signal processing of a six-axis force-torque sensor using cross-shaped elastic structures with circular holes. In this paper, we show principle of sensing force and torque, the signal processing methodology, and efficient methods of seeking strain gage positions in the sensor structure. The validity of the proposed method is shown via experiments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2014.07a
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• pp.17-18
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• 2014

현대사회와 미래사회는 가속화되어지는 IT기술에 의해서 융합되어진 작업의 효율 및 성능의 발전이 이슈화되고 있다. 따라서 1990년대부터는 군사 및 재활분야와 함께 제조업 및 유통업 등 전반적인 산업 모두에서 근력보조기구에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 과거에는 일반인이 무거운 짐을 운반하는 것을 완전한 로봇이 대체하거나 몸이 불편한 사회적 약자가 휠체어 및 지팡이 또는 전동 휠체어와 같은 보조 개념이 아닌 완전한 대체의 개념을 가지고 있었다. 그러나 웨어러블이 대두됨에 따라 기계와 인체가 합쳐지는 상호작용 근력보조기구가 탄생했다. 근력보조기구는 힘/토크 센서를 통한 인간과 로봇간의 상호작용에 의해 인간의 다양한 상지 및 하지 동작을 구현할 수 있는 근력 강화용 웨어러블 로봇 등이 있다.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1147-1152
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• 2014

This paper describes the design of a four-axis force/torque sensor with PSPBs (Parallel Step Plate Beams). The sensor is composed of eight PSPBs, a force/torque transmitting block, and fixing blocks. It is designed by using the FEM(Finite Element Method), and fabricated by using strain gages. The characteristic tests of the sensor are carried out, and the interference error, repeatability error, and non-linearity error are less than 2.21%, 0.03% and 0.03%. Furthermore, the structure of the four-axis force/torque sensor with PSPBs has a larger rated capacity than that of the four-axis force/torque sensor with PPBs under the same overall sensor size and the same rated output. It is thought that the developed four-axis force/torque sensor with PSPBs can be used for measuring the forces and torques in an intelligent robot, automation devices, etc.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2018

In this paper, a method for estimation of external force on an end-effector using joint torque sensor is proposed. The method is based on portion of measure torque caused by external force. Due to noise in the torque measurement data from the torque sensor, a recursive least-square estimation algorithm is used to ensure a smoother estimation of the external force data. However it is inevitable to create a delay for the sensor to detect the external force. In order to reduce the delay, modified recursive least-square is proposed. The performance of the proposed estimation method is evaluated in an experiment on a developed six-degree-of-freedom robot. By using NI DAQ device and Labview, the robot control, data acquisition and The experimental results output are processed in real time. By using proposed modified RLS, the delay to estimate the external force with the RLS is reduced by 54.9%. As an experimental result, the difference of the actual external force and the estimated external force is 4.11% with an included angle of $5.04^{\circ}$ while in dynamic state. This result shows that this method allows joint torque sensors to be used instead of commonly used external sensory system such as F/T sensors.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2020

This study shows a control strategy that acquires both precision and manipulation sensitivity of remote center motion with manual traction for a surgical assistant robot. Remote center motion is an essential function of a laparoscopic surgical robot. The robot has to keep the position of the insertion port in a three-dimensional space, and general laparoscopic surgery needs 4-DoF (degree-of-freedom) motions such as pan, tilt, spin, and forward/backward. The proposed robot consists of a 6-axis collaborative robot and a 2-DoF end-effector. A 6-axis collaborative robot performs the cone-shaped trajectory with pan and tilt motion of an end-effector maintaining the position of remote center. An end-effector deals with the remaining 2-DoF movement. The most intuitive way a surgeon manipulates a robot is through direct teaching. Since the accuracy of maintaining the remote center position is important, direct teaching is implemented based on position control in this study. A force/torque sensor which is attached to between robot and end-effector estimates the surgeon's intention and generates the command of motion. The predefined remote center position and the pan and tilt angles generated from direct teaching are input as a command for position control. The command generation algorithm determines the direct teaching sensitivity. Required torque for direct teaching and accuracy of remote center motion are analyzed by experiments of panning and tilting motion.