A system and method of providing feedback during manual joint positioning includes a computer-assisted device having an articulated structure including a joint and a control unit coupled to the articulated structure. To provide feedback to a user during manual positioning of the joint by the user, the control unit is configured to provide first haptic feedback indicating that the joint is moving in a correct direction when the joint is moving toward a first target position, provide second haptic feedback indicating that the joint is not moving in the correct direction when the joint is moving away from the first target position, and provide third haptic feedback indicating that motion of the joint should stop when the joint is at the first target position.

A surgical cart for supporting a robotic arm includes a vertically-extending support column, a carriage movably coupled to the support column and configured to carry a robotic arm, and a braking mechanism.

A high-performance four-axis robot (1) with horizontal joints includes a robot body (11), a first arm assembly (12) connected to the robot body 11, a second arm assembly (13) that one end thereof is connected to the first arm assembly, and a R-axis rotation assembly arranged at the other side of the second arm assembly opposite to the first arm assembly. Assembly of the robot body includes a linear assembly unit (115) arranged in a vertical direction, a fixed seat (111) capable of moving up and down along the linear assembly unit, and a drive assembly (14) configured to drive the fixed seat to move and arranged at a lower portion of the linear assembly unit. The drive assembly includes a first drive motor (141) arranged at the lower portion of the linear assembly unit and a coupling (142) connected to an output shaft of the first drive motor.

Provided is a braking device for a driving shaft, and the braking device includes: a brake ring coupled to the driving shaft in such a manner as to rotate according to rotation of the driving shaft and having one or more locking pieces with cross-shaped ends; a support frame fixed to an interior of a robot articulation; brake wings rotatable around brake shafts formed on the support frame and having locking protrusions adapted to stop the rotation of the driving shaft through physical interference with the cross-shaped ends of the locking pieces of the brake ring; position regulators adapted to rotate the brake wings to allow positions of the locking protrusions to be moved; and elastic members adapted to apply elastic forces to the brake wings rotating.

A drive device capable of allowing a brake operation of a braking mechanism of the drive device to suppress a mechanical load applied to a mechanism unit (i.e., a robot mechanical section) provided with the drive device. The drive device includes a first braking mechanism provided in a first motor to execute a first brake operation on an operation shaft, a second braking mechanism provided in a second motor to execute a second brake operation on the operation shaft, and a brake controller configured to control the first braking mechanism and the second braking mechanism to allow the first brake operation and the second brake operation to be continuously executed after starting the first brake operation before starting the second brake operation.

A positive positioning device comprises a plurality of stacked plates, a body, a spring-biased piston and a piston release device. The plurality of stacked plates have a central opening defined to receive a pivot shaft. The body houses the plurality of stacked plates and has an internal bore within which a cylinder is defined. The spring-biased piston is shaped to slide within the bore to apply a force to the stacked plates to resist rotation of a pivot shaft inserted through the central opening in the stacked plates. The piston release device is actuatable by a user to release the piston to decrease force applied to the stacked plates and allow free rotation of the pivot shaft.

A joint assembly for a robot, comprising a housing connected with an output part. The housing comprising a housing wall and a strain wave gearing system. The strain wave gearing system comprising a wave generator, a flexspline, and a circular spline connected to the output part. The wave generator is rotated by a rotor shaft. The rotor shaft is driven by an electric motor comprising a rotor magnet and a stator. The rotor magnet being affixed to the rotor shaft. The joint assembly further comprises one or more sensors comprising one or more magnetic field sensors and one or more pole rings arranged to measure a position of the output part in relation to the housing.

An industrial robot system includes a manipulator with a drive chain including a motor unit. A controller in the industrial robot system is electrically connected to the drive chain by a set of power transmission lines and is operable to transmit electrical power on the set of power transmission lines so as to impart a controlled movement of the manipulator. A supervision sensor is arranged in the manipulator and configured to sense a property of the manipulator. The supervision sensor is electrically connected to at least a subset of the power transmission lines for transmission of sensor data representing the property to the controller.

A robot control device having a drive shaft driven by a servo motor including a non-excited operation type electromagnetic brake. The electromagnetic brake is configured to perform a braking operation by pressing an armature against a friction plate by an urging force of a spring when an excitation coil is not energized, and to cancel a brake operation by attracting the armature to the excitation coil side against the urging force of the spring to separate the armature from the friction plate when the excitation coil is energized. A coil current flowing through the excitation coil is obtained and the robot is controlled based on the characteristic of time change of the obtained coil current. A robot control device capable of shortening a cycle time, estimating the life of the electromagnetic brake, performing abnormality diagnosis and the like with a relatively simple configuration can be provided.

An arm control method including determining, using a processor, whether or not there is an abnormality in an arm that operates by being driven by an actuator in a state in which the arm is fixed by a brake mechanism, to make it possible to determine whether or not there is an abnormality in an arm in a state in which the arm is fixed by a brake mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to more safely determine whether or not there is an abnormality in the arm. In addition, it is possible to more reliably prevent the arm from performing an abnormal operation.