NEW ACTUATORS FOR HUMAN SENSORY FEEDBACK

THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INTEGRATE TERFENOL-D INTO NEW ACTUATOR DESIGNS APPLICABLE TO DEXTEROUS EXOSKELETAL FEEDBACK SYSTEMS FOR TELEROBOTIC APPLICATIONS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EFFICIENT, RESPONSIVE, SMALL, LIGHTWEIGHT ACTUATORS IS CRITICAL TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SENSORY FEEDBACK SYSTEMS FOR INTUITIVE, REAL TIME HUMAN OPERATION OF TELEROBOTIC SYSTEMS IN HAZARDOUS OR OTHERWISE RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENTS. THIS PHASE I PROJECT WILL EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY AND CAPABILITY OF THESE MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ACTUATOR MECHANISMS TO PROVIDE REALISTIC FORCE AND POSITION FEEDBACK FOR ROBOTIC END-EFFECTORS. THE PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH AND STUDY NEW TERFENOL-D ACTUATOR DESIGNS ADAPTED SPECIFICALLY FOR THESE FEEDBACK SYSTEMS AND WILL DEMONSTRATE, TEST AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BOTH RESISTIVE VARIABLE BRAKE DEVICES AND HIGHER ORDER ACTIVE LINEAR MOTOR ACTUATOR PROTOTYPES. THE ACTUATORS WILL BE MODULAR BY DESIGN AND WHEN REFINED IN PHASE II WILL ALLOW TRANSFER AND APPLICATION TO VARIED MECHANICAL FEEDBACK SYSTEMS INCLUDING ADAPTIVE STRUCTURES AND OTHER ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS OF UTILITY TO MILITARY, SPACE AND PRIVATE SECTOR SYSTEMS.