The present disclosure relates to a frictional wave reducer mainly used for industrial robot joints and having an operating principle modified from that of a conventional strain wave gearing, which includes a wave generator having a conic pressurizing face on the outermost side, a toothless flex spline having a conic friction tube in which the wave generator is accommodated with the conic pressurizing face inscribed in the conic friction tube, and a toothless circular spline accommodating the toothless flex spline and having an internal conic friction face in which the conic friction tube is inscribed at a plurality of axially symmetrical points to form an internal friction wheel with the toothless flex spline. Accordingly, disadvantages of the conventional strain wave gearing are overcome to provide a reducer having high productivity and high rotation accuracy without generation of vibration and noise.

A joint apparatus for a robot includes a housing, a bearing including an inner ring and an outer ring contacting the housing, a rotating member contacting the inner ring of the bearing, and a driving apparatus configured to rotate the rotating member, where the first housing includes a first support region configured to support a front surface of the outer ring and a first fastening region extending rearward from the first support region and on which a first thread is formed, the sounding housing includes a second support region configured to support a rear surface of the outer ring and a second fastening region extending forward from the second support region and on which a second thread is formed, and the second thread is configured to engage the first thread.

The present disclosure discloses a multi-degree-of-freedom driving arm and a dual-arm robot using the arm, the multi-degree-of-freedom driving arm comprises a single-degree-of-freedom driving module and a plurality of dual-degree-of-freedom driving modules, and the single-degree-of-freedom driving module and the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module located at the innermost side are coupled to each other; the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module has two orthogonal rotational degrees of freedom, and comprises a first driving mechanism that is configured to drive the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module to rotate in the first rotational degree of freedom, and a second driving mechanism that is configured to drive the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module to rotate in the second rotational degree of freedom; the first driving mechanism of the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module located on outer side is disposed on the second driving mechanism of the dual-degree-of-freedom driving module adjacent thereto and located on inner side. The robot has seven degrees of freedom for each arm, so that it is flexible and suitable for performing various complicated tasks; the robot has low cost and compact structure, and the energy density of the self-structure per unit volume is maximized; the arm has a modular structure that ensures excellent interchangeability and saves on maintenance costs.

A manipulator module (100) comprising: a first housing segment (102) configured to be connected to a manipulator; a second housing segment (104) rotatably coupled to a distal end of the first housing segment (102) such that the second housing segment (104) can rotate about a longitudinal axis relative to the first housing segment (102); a linear actuator (118), wherein a distal end of the linear actuator (118) is configured to be coupled to an end effector; a first electric motor (110) arranged to drive the linear actuator (118) to actuate the end effector; a second electric motor (112) arranged to rotatably drive the second housing segment (104) relative to the first housing segment (102); wherein the linear actuator (118) is arranged to extend from the first housing segment (102) and through the second housing segment (104).

A driving device includes a motor, a wave gear device including a wave generator having first thickness, a flex spline, and a circular spline having thickness larger than the first thickness, a housing functioning as a housing of the motor and including a flange, and an oil seal fixed to the inner side of the flange and extending along the outer circumference of the shaft. The wave generator is set closer to the opposite direction of the flange to configure an internal space with the members. When the internal space is filled with grease, a distance between the oil seal and the wave generator is set smaller than distances among the other members.

A method for characterising the performance of a joint in a surgical robotic arm, the joint being driven by a drivetrain which transfers power from a drive source to the joint, the method comprising: sending a first command signal to position the robot arm into an initial configuration; sending a second command signal to apply a force to the joint to displace the joint from a steady state; for a plurality of predefined time intervals: receiving a first measurement indicating the configuration of the drive source at a first end of the drivetrain; receiving a second measurement indicating the configuration of the joint at a second end of the drivetrain; calculating a value of elongation using the first and second measurements; and receiving a third measurement indicating the torque experienced by the joint at the second end of the drivetrain; comparing the values of elongation with corresponding values of torque at each of the predefined time intervals; and generating an output from the comparison indicating the performance of the joint.

A rotation mechanism according to the disclosure includes: an output portion for outputting, to a mating member, rotation of a drive source producing a rotational force; a coupling member for coupling the mating member and the output portion by elastic deformation; and an anti-rotation portion for preventing relative rotation between the mating member and the output portion.

A method of assembling a robotic surgical tool includes providing a handle having first and second ends, a lead screw, and a spline extendable between the first and second ends. The lead screw is rotated in a first direction to translate an elevator layer of a carriage proximally along a longitudinal axis of the handle, the elevator layer being movably mounted to the lead screw at a carriage nut. One or more additional layers of the carriage are removably coupled to the elevator layer and an elongate shaft extends distally from the additional layers, and an end effector is arranged at a distal end of the shaft. The elevator layer is penetrated by the end effector and the shaft upon coupling the additional layers to the elevator layer, and the lead screw is rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction to translate the carriage distally.

A gear device includes an internal gear, an external gear having flexibility configured to partially mesh with the internal gear and rotate around a rotation axis relatively to the internal gear, and a wave generator configured to come into contact with an inner circumferential surface of the external gear and move a meshing position of the internal gear and the external gear in a circumferential direction around the rotation axis. The external gear includes a cylindrical section including a first end portion with which the wave generator is in contact and a second end portion adjacent to the first end portion along the rotation axis. An inner circumferential surface of the first end portion includes a polished surface. An inner circumferential surface of the second end portion includes a lathe-cut surface.

An elastic transmission element is part of a strain wave gear. Such strain wave gears are also referred to as Harmonic Drives. The elastic transmission element is also referred to as a flexspline and has an outer toothing (03). The elastic transmission element is equipped with at least one strain gauge (04) for measuring a mechanical strain on the elastic transmission element. The one strain gauge (04) or the plurality of strain gauges (04) extends at least as a whole about a circumference of a lateral surface or an axial lateral face of the elastic transmission element.