| 摘要 |
<p>A leg joint assist device (11) of a legged mobile robot, comprising a spring means (21)(gas spring). A piston (24) in a cylinder (23) is vertically moved according to the relative displacement motion (bending and stretching motion) of a femoral region (4) and a crural region (5) at the knee joint (8) of the leg (3) of the robot. A gas is filled in gas chambers (25) and (26) on the upper and lower sides of the piston (24). When the degree of the bending of the leg body at the knee joint (8) is equal to or less than a specified value, the gas chambers (25) and (26) are allowed to communicate with each other through grooves (28) in the cylinder (23), and the spring means (21) does not produce an elastic force. When the degree of the bending exceeds the specified value, the gas chambers (25) and (26) are brought into a sealed state with each other, and the spring means (21) produces an elastic force which acts on the knee joint (8) as an auxiliary drive force. Thus, a burden on the joint actuator of the leg can be reduced while reducing the energy consumption of the robot by a compact and simple structure. Also, a variation in the characteristics of the auxiliary drive force of the spring means (21) against the degree of the bending of the knee joint (8) can be suppressed.</p> |
