Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Acta Medica Okayama 1999 Application of pneumatic parallel manipulator as haptic human interface 185 190 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu When humans and robots implement a cooperative task, information (intention) transfer between them is an important problem as the task becomes complicated. In the paper, a haptic interface using a pneumatic parallel manipulator is developed to realize “information transfer by means of contact”. The contact information given by the human, namely contact force vector and contact point on the manipulator, is detected by the interface itself and such information is transferred to the robot by being connected with some reference signal. The pneumatic parallel manipulator works as a kind of elastic body even when its position is controlled owing to the air compressibility. Focusing on this characteristic and introducing an idea of compliance center with a spherical shell, contact force vector and contact point are detected without a force sensor. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed through some experiments. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 3 2003 Development of force displaying device using pneumatic parallel manipulator and application to palpation motion 4098 4103 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu The goal of this study is to develop a mechanical system which display elastic characteristic like stiffness on the surface of human body aiming at applying to palpation simulator. Pneumatic parallel manipulator is employed as a driving mechanism, consequently, it brings capability of minute force displaying property owing to the air compressibility. Compliance control system without using force/moment sensor is constructed by introducing a disturbance observer and a compliance display scheme is proposed. The validity of the proposed scheme is verified experimentally. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 2005 Development of Wrist Rehabilitation Equipment Using Pneumatic Parallel Manipulator 2302 2307 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu In this study, we aim at developing a mechanical device to support humans rehabilitation motion of their wrist joint instead of or to help a physical therapist. Pneumatic parallel manipulator is introduced as the mechanical equipment from a view that pneumatic actuators bring minute force control property owing to the air compressibility and parallel manipulator’s feature of multiple degrees of freedom is suitable for a complex motion of human wrist joint. Impedance control system is introduced to realize several rehabilitation modes. The validity of the proposed system is confirmed through some experiments. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 2 2000 Development of pneumatic human interface and its application for compliance display 806 811 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu The goal of this study is to develop a human interface that can display compliance for a human hand aiming at application in the field of virtual reality. A pneumatic parallel manipulator is introduced as a driving mechanism of the human interface, which yields the characteristic that the manipulator works as a kind of elastic body even when its position/orientation is under the control. Utilizing this elastic characteristic, a compliance display scheme is proposed. The validity of the proposed scheme is verified experimentally No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 1 2003 Development of compliance displaying device using pneumatic parallel manipulator 492 497 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu The goal of this study is to develop a mechanical system that can display elastic characteristic of an object aiming at the application in the field of virtual reality. Pneumatic parallel manipulator is introduced as a driving mechanism, which, consequently, brings capability of minute force displaying property owing to the air compressibility. Compliance displaying scheme based on the contact force and contact point detection is proposed. The validity of the proposed scheme is verified experimentally. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 3 2002 Recognition of elastic characteristic of object using pneumatic parallel manipulator 1724 1727 EN Masahiro Takaiwa Toshiro Noritsugu Kenichi Fujie The goal of this study is to develop a mechanical system that can display elastic characteristic of an object aiming at the application in the field of virtual reality. A pneumatic parallel manipulator is introduced as a driving mechanism, which consequently brings the capability of minute force displaying property owing to the air compressibility. A compliance control system without using force/moment sensor is constructed by introducing a disturbance observer, and a compliance display scheme is proposed. The validity of the proposed scheme is verified experimentally. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 2004 Wearable power assist device for hand grasping using pneumatic artificial rubber muscle 655 660 EN Toshiro Noritsugu Hiroshi Yamamoto Daisuke Sasaki Masahiro Takaiwa The purpose of this study is to develop a wearable power assist device for hand grasping in order to support activity of daily living (ADL) safely and easily. In this paper, the mechanism of the developed power assist device is described, and then the effectiveness of this device is discussed experimentally. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 2 2003 Application of artificial pneumatic rubber muscles to a human friendly robot 2188 2193 EN Toshiro Noritsugu Daisuke Sasaki Masahiro Takaiwa When robots work together with a human or contact with a human body directly in such as a medical welfare field, in order to avoid an accident from crash and so on, a flexibility is required for the robot. The purpose of this study is to realize a safe mechanism for a human-friendly robot. In this paper, the structure and the fundamental characteristics of a pneumatic rubber muscle and soft mechanism are described, and then the structure and the fundamental operation of the developed soft hand are shown. Finally, the shaking hands is discussed as an example of force communication tasks between a robot and a human. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 1995 Robust positioning control of pneumatic servo system with pressure control loop 2613 2618 EN Toshiro Noritsugu Masahiro Takaiwa The goal of this paper is to attain a robust positioning control of a pneumatic driving system. A positioning control system positively focusing on the pressure control is investigated from the view that the pressure control is indispensable for improvement of control performances. A disturbance observer is employed to improve the pressure response and compensate the influence of friction force and parameter change. Consequently the improvements of robustness against payload and of positioning accuracy have been attained No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 2005 Development of Active Support Splint driven by Pneumatic Soft Actuator (ASSIST) 520 525 EN Daisuke Sasaki Toshiro Noritsugu Masahiro Takaiwa In this study, in order to realize an assist of independent life for the elderly or people in need of care and relieve a physical burden for care worker, an active support splint driven by pneumatic soft actuator (ASSIST) has been developed. ASSIST consists of a plastic interface with the palm and arm and two rotary-type soft actuators put in both sides of appliance. In this paper, the fundamental characteristics of ASSIST is described, and then the effectiveness of this splint is experimentally discussed. Finally, the operation of ASSIST based on a human intention is described. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acta Medica Okayama 1998 外乱オブザーバの導入による空気圧駆動システムの制御性能向上に関する研究 EN 本論文は，種々の空気圧駆動システムにモーションコントロールを適用し，その制御性能の向上を目的としたもので， 7章から構成される. 第1章では，ロバストなモーションコントロールを実現する一つの手法は，プラントの特性を変動のないモデルの特性に固定することであり，それを実現する手法として外乱オブザーバが効果的に機能することを述べる. また，空気圧アクチュエータにおいて同様の制御を実行するには圧力制御系の構成が不可欠であることを示す. 第2章では，圧縮性の指標である圧縮率を導入して空気圧アクチュエータの理論モデルを導出した後，外乱オブザーバを用いた制御系を導入し，その基本的な制御性能を調べる. 単一フィルタのパラメータ調節による感度関数と相補感度関数のトレードオフの問題を改善するため，特性補償の考えを用いて，ロバスト性を悪化させることなく，ロバスト安定性のみを改善する手法を提案する. また，むだ時間が存在するプラントに対応するため，スミス法を応用する. 一方，外乱オブザーバの推定外乱中から外力のみを抽出することで，力センサを使用しないインピーダンス制御系についても提案する. 第3章では，対象物の高速・高精度な搬送作業の実現を目的とし，長ストロークの空気圧シリンダによる任意点位置決め制御を行う. 自由パラメータである内部のフィルタの設計において具体的な指針を与えるため，逆ベクトル軌跡法を用いた簡易なフィルタの設計法を提案する. 次に，加速度制御の概念を導入し，圧力制御を主体とする位置制御系を新たに構成する. 提案する手法の制御性能は圧力制御性能に依存しており，最適な圧力制御系を設計するには理論的な解析が不可欠である. しかし，本研究では実用上の観点からエネルギ効率に優れるメータアウト方式を採用しており，その結果，大きな非線形性が圧力応答部に存在し，通常の線形な解析手法が適用できない. 本章では記述関数法を導入して圧力応答部を解析し，圧力制御系のバンド幅と各制御パラメータの関係を考察する. 解析手法の妥当性は圧力制御系の性能が閉ループ系の応答に顕著に現れやすい鉛直方向への位置決め制御において確認される. 空気圧アクチュエータでは，位置制御系を構成した場合でも，圧縮性の影響により外力に対して, 一種の弾性体として機能する. 第4章では, この弾性特性をはめ合い動作における位置決め誤差の吸収機能として利用できる点に着目し，第3章で用いた長ストローク空気圧シリンダの駆動部に新たに鉛直駆動用(挿入用)のシリンダを取り付け，対象物の搬送・挿人作業へ応用する. 挿入が達成されるか否かは搬送用アクチュエータに構成した位置制御系の弾性特性(柔らかさ)に依存し，その弾性特性は圧力応答特性に支配される. 挿入達成に必要とされる弾性特性を解析的に求め，それを実現する圧力制御系のパラメータについて考察する. 第5章では，空気圧シリンダをアクチュエータとする試作したパラレルマニピュレータに対して，モーションコントロールを適用し，その制御性能の向上をはかる. まず，位置制御性能を検討する. パラレルマニピュレータでは，逆運動学が解析的に求まるという特徴を利用して，各リンク独立に位置制御系を構成する方法が得策である. この場合，マニピュレータの複雑な逆動力学計算を必要としない反面，リンクの位置制御系に対して，動力学の影響が外乱として作用する. これらの影響を効果的に低減するため，第2章後半で提案した圧力制御を主体とする位置制御法を適用する. また，手先の位置姿勢をオンラインで計算し，手先座標方向の応答を任意に設定できる手先ベクトルに基づく位置制御法も同時に提案する. これら両手法の性能は逆運動学の線形性により比較されることを示す. 本マニピュレータは構造上，逆運動学がほぼ線形とみなせ，両制御系において性能に差はないことが予想され，そのことは実験よっても確認される. さらに，接触作業において有効であるインピーダンス制御系を構成し，その制御性能を検討する. 従来通りの位置ベース型，力ベース型に加え，位置ベース型よりも制御アルゴリズムが容易な簡易位置ベース型を新たに提案する. 第6章では，パラレルマニピュレータにおいて力センサを使用しない外力/モーメント検出法を提案する. これは，マニピュレータ自体の弾性特性を利用するもので第4章で提案した概念の応用である. リンク単体，およびマニピュレータに対しでほぼ満足のいく推定性能が確認されている. 第7章では，本論文で得られた知見を纏めており，圧力制御系と外乱オブザーバの併用は，空気圧アクチュエータのモーションコントロールにおいてロバスト制御を達成するために必要となるだけでなく，圧縮性としづ空気固有の特徴の影響を調整できる可能性があることから，空気圧駆動システムをより高度な作業へ応用する際の主要な制御技術となりうることを述べて結論としている. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.