Development of a rotational meshing actuator for in-home life support systems

For elderly and physically disabled people, support systems that assist their active daily life are as important as appropriate rehabilitation. We have designed a rotational meshing actuator for a life support system based on a mobile robot. The present paper explains the basic concept of the actuator and its design details. The actuator comprises a motor-controlled active mechanism mated with a passive mechanism. The trident pin on top of the active mechanism engages with a similar pin on top of the passive mechanism, transmitting the rotational motion between the mechanisms. The rotation transmission characteristics of the actuator were experimentally investigated using an actuator prototype. Finally, the developed actuator was mounted on a mobile robot, and its practical feasibility was confirmed by a window curtaining experiment.