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Design and implementation of a variable stiffness tensegrity-based compliant actuator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2025

Yanwen Liu Open the ORCID record for Yanwen Liu [Opens in a new window] ,
Guangyuan Jin ,
Liang Zhou  and
Hongzhou Jiang
Yanwen Liu*
Affiliation:
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Guangyuan Jin
Affiliation:
Industrial Technology Research Institute of Heilongjiang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Liang Zhou
Affiliation:
School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Hongzhou Jiang
Affiliation:
School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
*
Corresponding author: Yanwen Liu; Email: honorlyw@163.com
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Abstract

The variable stiffness actuator (VSA) excels at tasks that are challenging for traditional rigid mechanisms to perform. A novel variable stiffness tensegrity-based compliant actuator is proposed, following an analysis of the cons and pros of existing VSAs. The proposed actuator leverages a tensegrity structure to eliminate direct contact between rigid elements, thereby reducing the internal mechanical friction. This leads to low damping and compliant behavior. Additionally, it enables a wide range of stiffness adjustments and decouples rotational stiffness from the rotation angle by utilizing different variants of the mechanically adjustable compliance and controllable equilibrium position actuator (MACCEPA). The stiffness analysis of the single-joint actuator is presented and experimentally validated. This design is then extended to multi-joint mechanism applications, including serial mechanism configuration, wire-driven mechanism configuration, and direct-drive mechanism configuration. An evaluation of the structural characteristics of these three configurations is provided, offering different options for implementing VSAs. The conducted works could provide fresh insights into the field of VSA.

Keywords

variable stiffnessMACCEPAtensegrity-based jointcompliant actuatorplanar rotational mechanism

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , First View , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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