This research proposes an electrostatic brake utilizing inter-digital electrodes and analyzes the braking force performance using FEM. The brake works as a jamming mechanism and is designed for controlling multi-DOF robot arms. In previous studies, various mechanisms have been applied to constrain the shape of the under-actuated robots. Among those mechanisms, electrostatic jamming, or brake, realizes simple and compact structures. Whereas the conventional electrostatic brakes utilize the planar parallel electrodes for electrode adhesion, this work proposes the utilization of inter-digital electrodes. The research investigates the parameters influencing the braking force of inter-digital electrostatic brakes and analyzes the braking performance using FEM. The performance is compared with that of the conventional planar parallel electrodes. The result shows that under certain geometry parameters and low friction indexes, the inter-digital electrostatic brakes overperforms planar electrode, in terms of total braking force.

The purpose of this study is to develop collective beam structure ESCs with elastic hinges as rotational-degree-of-freedom structure at the tip and to verify the influence of the structure while facing planar and curved surfaces. Electrostatic chucks (ESC) are devices used in wafer manipulation but can only deal with plain targets. Collective beam structure ESCs, although having the potential for dealing with curved surfaces, lack the compliance between tip and surface, resulting in poor performance. In this study, the elastic hinge is made from phosphor bronze and other structures are made by fused deposition modelling technology. The specification of the foot structure ESC is firstly determined through calculation. Then experiments are carried out at different positions on the plain and curved surfaces with collective beam structure ESCs with and without the hinge. The results of experiments are used to verify and analyze the influence of the elastic structure on the foot structure ESC while facing the planar and curved surfaces. In the end, the effect of elastic hinge is verified, and the results are expected to contribute to the development of foot structure ESC with higher performance facing different target surfaces.

This study describes the development of a new probe that uses a combination of hydrophilic (acrylic) and hydrophobic (PTFE) surfaces to improve object micromanipulation based on capillary force. By using materials with different wettability for the inner and outer surfaces of the probe, the goal is to control the capillary force by only changing the volume of the droplet between the probe and the object. Therefore, the detachment of objects is more convenient as this new method eliminates the need to supply water below the object. Results show that the forces generated during the gripping and detaching process have a significant difference in magnitude. This new probe is highly applicable for stable micromanipulation without causing any damage to the object.

Power assist device for hand grasping for aged or disable person has been developed. A major type of the assist device uses globe type covering user hand surface and using many actuators. The purpose of this study is to develop power assist device not covering user hand surface by using light actuator. In this paper, the structures of plastic film actuator and power assist device are described, and the effectiveness is experimentally evaluated. In the experiment, this device outputs 1.8N, and we can hold 540 grams of plastic bottles by using it.

Turn-milling, which is a machining method for milling a rotating work material, attracts attention as a method for cutting difficult-to-cut materials with high efficiency. However, the effect of the degree of freedom of the tool posture, which is one of its features, on the cutting condition has not been clarified. In addition, it is necessary to suppress the generation of chatter vibration in order to achieve highly efficient cutting. In this study, the effect of tool posture on chatter vibration in turn milling was investigated by both analysis and experiment.