Development of a masticatory robot using a novel cable-driven linear actuator with bidirectional motion

doi:10.1007/s11465-022-0687-1

Front. Mech. Eng.

2022, Vol. 17

Issue (4) : 31 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-022-0687-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Development of a masticatory robot using a novel cable-driven linear actuator with bidirectional motion

Haiying WEN^1,², Jianxiong ZHU^1,², Hui ZHANG^1,², Min DAI¹, Bin LI³, Zhisheng ZHANG¹(

), Weiliang XU⁴(

), Ming CONG⁵

¹. School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
². Engineering Research Center of New Light Sources Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210009, China
³. Department of Stomatology, Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China
⁴. Department of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
⁵. School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

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Abstract

Masticatory robots are an effective in vitro performance testing device for dental material and mandibular prostheses. A cable-driven linear actuator (CDLA) capable of bidirectional motion is proposed in this study to design a masticatory robot that can achieve increasingly human-like chewing motion. The CDLA presents remarkable advantages, such as lightweight and high stiffness structure, in using cable amplification and pulley systems. This work also exploits the proposed CDLA and designs a masticatory robot called Southeast University masticatory robot (SMAR) to solve existing problems, such as bulky driving linkage and position change of the muscle’s origin. Stiffness analysis and performance experiment validate the CDLA’s efficiency, with its stiffness reaching 1379.6 N/mm (number of cable parts n = 4), which is 21.4 times the input wire stiffness. Accordingly, the CDLA’s force transmission efficiencies in two directions are 84.5% and 85.9%. Chewing experiments are carried out on the developed masticatory robot to verify whether the CDLA can help SMAR achieve a natural human-like chewing motion and sufficient chewing forces for potential applications in performance tests of dental materials or prostheses.

Keywords masticatory robot cable-driven linear actuator parallel robot stiffness analysis

Corresponding Author(s): Zhisheng ZHANG,Weiliang XU

Just Accepted Date: 01 September 2022 Issue Date: 10 January 2023

Cite this article:

Haiying WEN,Jianxiong ZHU,Hui ZHANG, et al. Development of a masticatory robot using a novel cable-driven linear actuator with bidirectional motion[J]. Front. Mech. Eng., 2022, 17(4): 31.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/10.1007/s11465-022-0687-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fme/EN/Y2022/V17/I4/31

Fig.1 Application areas of masticatory robot.

Fig.2 New cable-driven linear actuator (CDLA): (a) diagram of the force and stiffness amplification, (b) diagram of the new CDLA with four cable parts (n = 4), and (c) UPS linkage based on the new CDLA (cables are omitted). 1?connecting block, 2?fixed block, 3?guide pulley A, 4?left fixed pulley, 5?movable pulley A, 6?movable pulley B, 7?fixed pulley A, 8?fixed pulley B, 9?sliding shaft, 10?linear bearing, 11?housing, 12?sliding block, 13?guide pulley B, 14?wire, 15?motor.

Fig.3 Driving linkage in existing masticatory robots and the new one: (a) crank-actuated six-RSS mechanism, (b) ball screw-driven six-PUS mechanism, (c) ball screw-driven six-UPS mechanism, and (d) one driving linkage of the new masticatory robot.

Tab.1 Comparison between the new actuator and the existing ones

Fig.4 Design of the masticatory robot with cable-driven linear actuator (CDLA): (a) three-dimensional model of the masticatory robot (U_i: universal joint, S_i: spherical joint), (b) structure diagram of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) structure, and (c) top view of the wire winding.

Fig.5 Structural diagram of the cable-driven parallel manipulator.

Fig.6 Force transmission between output and input forces: (a) shaft stretching-out direction and (b) shaft sliding-in direction.

Fig.7 Experimental setup and measured stiffness of the cable-driven linear actuator (CDLA): (a) experimental setup of the CDLA for stiffness measurement (n = 4); stiffness of the CDLA (b) n = 4 in the shaft stretching-out direction, (c) n = 4 in the shaft sliding-in direction, and (d) n = 2 with 3 mm-thick acrylonitrile butadiene styrene in two directions.

Fig.8 Southeast University masticatory robot: (a) prototype of the robot, (b) controller, and (c) driver.

Fig.9 Planned trajectory of the lower first molar in (a) the YZ plane and (b) the 3D space.

Fig.10 Snapshots of the chewing movement and displacement and velocity trajectories of the six CDLAs: (a) opening movement, (b) closing movement, (c) displacements of the six CDLAs, and (d) velocities of the six CDLAs. RLP: right lateral pterygoid, LLP: left lateral pterygoid, RM: right masseter, LM: left masseter, RT: right temporalis, LT: left temporalis.

Fig.11 Chewing force of the robot: (a) setup of the sensing system; chewing force corresponding to the (b) 1 mm-thick sheet and (c) 2 mm-thick sheet.

Abbreviations
3D	Three dimensional
ABS	Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
c, s	sine and cosine functions, respectively
CDLA	Cable-driven linear actuator
CDPM	Cable-driven parallel manipulator
DOF	Degree of freedom
PUS	Prismatic?universal?spherical
RSS	Revolute?spherical?spherical
SMAR	Southeast University masticatory robot
TMJ	Temporomandibular joint
WJ	Waseda Jaw
WY	Waseda Yamanashi
UPS	Universal?prismatic?spherical
Variables
F	External force applied to the sliding shaft
F_in	Motor’s input pulling force
F_out	Cable and pulley system’s output force
k_la	CDLA’s stiffness
k_w	Stiffness coefficient of wires
K	Cable’s elasticity coefficient
$K out$	Output stiffness of this pulley system
Δl_in	Input deformation
Δl_out	Output deformation
$l U i S i$	Corresponding length of each CDLA
L_left, L_right	Length of the left and right wires that pull or loosen, respectively
L_pre	Pretensioned distance of the wire
ΔL	Infinitesimal change of the length of wires
n	Number of cables turning around the movable pulleys
$p G$	Position of {M} relative to {G}
$R M G$	Rotation transformation matrix mapping from {M} to {G}
S_i (i = 1, 2, …, 6)	Insertion points of the six-muscle CDLA
T_loosen	Tension of the loosened wire during the movement
T_pull	Tension of the pulled wire during the movement
ΔT	Input force generated by the motor
U_i (i = 1, 2, …, 6)	Origin points of the six-muscle CDLA
$U i S i G$	Vector of each CDLA connecting point U_i and S_i
x	Distance that the sliding block moves
X	Coordinates in X direction
Δx	Infinitesimal change of the moving distance of the sliding block
Y_L, Y_R	Coordinates of the left and right ball heads in the TMJ structure, respectively
Y	Coordinates in Y direction
Z	Coordinates in Z direction
α, β, γ	Euler angles rotated about X, Y, and Z axes, respectively

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