Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3390/mi14122246

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

Abstract

Switching backdrivability according to use status is important to attain energy-saving and compliance in co-worker robots. Authors have proposed switching backdrivability by exciting gear surface, eliminating the need for sensors while switching. We have confirmed that exciting 2K-H planetary gear can switch its backdrivability. To systematically design the switching backdrivable 2K-H planetary gear, this study reveals less back-drive condition and the required torque for a vibrator. In the less-backdrivable condition, the tooth number difference between the fixed and output gears is dominant. Furthermore, the required torque for the vibrator increases as the load of the output shaft and the vibration frequency increase. The experimental results of the less-backdrivable condition and the required torque for the vibrator are almost entirely consistent with simulation result of the mechanical model

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-023-00264-w

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Other Link： https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-023-00264-w/fulltext.html

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Single-cell manipulation in microfluidic channels at the micrometer scale has recently become common. However, the current mainstream method using a syringe pump and a piezoelectric actuator is not suitable for long-term experiments. Some methods incorporate a pump mechanism into a microfluidic channel, but they are not suitable for mass production owing to their complex structures. Here, we propose a sidewall-driven micropump integrated into a microfluidic device as well as a method for reducing the pulsation of flow. This sidewall-driven micropump consists of small chambers lined up on both sides along the main flow path, with a wall separating the flow path and each chamber being deformed by air pressure. The chambers are pressurized to make the peristaltic motion of the wall possible, which generates flow in the main flow path. This pump can be created in a single layer, which allows a simplified structure to be achieved, although pulsation can occur when the pump is used alone. We created two types of chips with two micropumps placed in the flow path and attempted to reduce pulsation by driving them in different phases. The proposed dually driven micropump reduced pulsation when compared with the single pump. This device enables precise particle control and is expected to contribute to less costly and easier cell manipulation experiments.

DOI： 10.3390/mi14010019

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

Abstract

In this study, a two-way clutch mechanism using planetary gear meshing was proposed. The proposed mechanism allows low torque loss and high-speed rotation instead of a larger backlash compared to a roller type two-way clutch. The unique structure of this mechanism that makes such functionality possible comprises two independent planetary gears with variable distances between the axes. When the input shaft rotated, the planetary gears rotated at a distance. Torque is transmitted by the input shaft pushing directly on the output shaft, so losses on the tooth surface are small. As with gear reducers, high-speed rotation is possible. When the output shaft rotated, the two planetary gears engaged, and the shaft locked. A flat cam was used to switch between the above two states, so the overall structure was simple. The diameter, thickness, and weight of the developed prototype were 44 mm, 24 mm, and 78.8 g, respectively. We experimentally confirmed that the mechanism worked as expected. The theoretical locking limit torque was 1.16 Nm. The torque loss was 5 mNm at the static condition and less than 10 mNm at a high speed of 4000 rpm.

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-022-00236-6

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Other Link： https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-022-00236-6/fulltext.html

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3390/s22134997

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3390/mi13010068

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Recently pneumatic-driven soft robots have been widely developed. Usually, the operating principle of this robot is the inflation and deflation of elastic inflatable chambers by air pressure. Some soft robots need rapid and periodic inflation and deflation of their air chambers to generate continuous motion such as progress motion or rotational motion. However, if the soft robot needs to operate far from the air pressure source, long air tubes are required to supply air pressure to its air chambers. As a result, there is a large delay in supplying air pressure to the air chamber, and the motion of the robot slows down. In this paper, we propose a compact device that changes its airflow passages by self-excited motion generated by a supply of continuous airflow. The diameter and the length of the device are 20 and 50 mm, respectively, and can be driven in a small pipe. Our proposed in-pipe mobile robot is connected to the device and can move in a small pipe by dragging the device into it. To apply the device widely to other soft robots, we also discuss a method of adjusting the output pressure and motion frequency.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-021-00207-3

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1111/aor.13930

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

DOI： 10.1096/fj.202002111rr

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：{MDPI} {AG}  

<jats:p>In this paper, we propose an on-chip micromixer driven by an elastic wall with a virtual actuator. The on-chip micro mixer is composed of a circular chamber surrounded by a ring-shaped channel under isolation with an elastic wall. When vibrational pressure is put on the driving channel by an actuator, the volume of the circular chamber changes through the deformation of the elastic wall, as if there exists a virtual actuator near the wall. As a result, the liquid in the circular chamber is pushed out and pulled through the neck channel. This action creates a swirling flow in the circular chamber while maintaining isolation from the driving channel. Through experiments, we confirmed the swirling flow under an isolated environment using an air-based valve. The advantage of this approach is that the micromixer can be designed with a single layer having a simple mechanism.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.3390/mi12020217

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：{SAGE} Publications  

<jats:p> Colorectal anastomotic leakage is one of the most feared and fatal complications of colorectal surgery. To date, no external coating material that can prevent anastomotic leakage has been developed. As myoblasts possess anti-inflammatory capacity and improve wound healing, we developed a multilayered human skeletal muscle myoblast (HSMM) sheet by periodic exposure to supraphysiological hydrostatic pressure during repeated cell seeding. We assessed whether the application of an HSMM sheet can promote the healing process after colonic anastomosis. Partial colectomy and insufficient suturing were employed to create a high-risk colo-colonic anastomosis model in 60 nude rats. Rats were divided into a control group ( n = 30) and an HSMM sheet group ( n = 30). Macroscopic findings, anastomotic bursting pressure, and histology at the colonic anastomotic site were evaluated on postoperative day (POD) 3, 5, 7, 14, and 28. The application of an HSMM sheet significantly suppressed abscess formation at the anastomotic site compared to the control group on POD3 and 5. The anastomotic bursting pressure in the HSMM sheet group was higher than that in the control group on POD3 and 5. Inflammatory cell infiltration in the HSMM sheet group was significantly suppressed compared to that in the control group throughout the time course. Collagen deposition in the HSMM sheet group on POD3 was significantly abundant compared to that in the control group. Regeneration of the mucosa at the colonic anastomotic site was promoted in the HSMM sheet group compared to that in the control group on POD14 and 28. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that surviving cells in the HSMM sheet gradually decreased with postoperative time and none were detected on POD14. These results suggest that the application of a multilayered HSMM sheet may prevent postoperative colonic anastomotic leakage. </jats:p>

DOI： 10.1177/09636897211009559

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：{MDPI} {AG}  

<jats:p>In this paper, a high-speed on-chip mixer using two effects is proposed, i.e., push/pull inequality and wettability. Push/pull inequality and wettability are effective for generating a rotational fluid motion in the chamber and for enhancing the rotational speed by reducing the viscous loss between the liquid and channel wall, respectively. An on-chip mixer is composed of three components, a microfluidic channel for making the main fluid flow, a circular chamber connected to the channel for generating a rotational flow, and an actuator connected at the end of the channel allowing a push/pull motion to be applied to the liquid in the main channel. The flow patterns in the chamber under push/pull motions are nonreversible for each motion and, as a result, produce one-directional torque to the fluid in the circular chamber. This nonreversible motion is called push/pull inequality and eventually creates a swirling flow in the chamber. Using hydrophilic treatments, we executed the experiment with a straight channel and a circular chamber to clarify the mixing characteristics at different flow speeds. According to the results, it is confirmed that the swirling velocity under appropriately tuned wettability is 100 times faster than that without tuning.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.3390/mi11100950

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Robotics Society of Japan  

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.38.185

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>A worm gear has the advantages of a large reduction ratio and non-backdrivability. Because of this non-backdrivability, it can maintain a joint angle without energy consumption. Today, many robots have large workspaces that extend into the living spaces of humans, and they are required to work cooperatively with humans. In such cases, backdrivability is necessary to achieve high compliance for robots. Compliance helps robots perform cooperative tasks with humans, and protects its mechanisms and humans in the case of a collision. However, a worm gear cannot be backdriven because of the friction between tooth surfaces. Therefore, we have developed a worm gear mechanism that can switch its backdrivability using vibration that reduces friction. In this paper, we present a dynamic model of the worm gear to analyze the friction-reduction phenomenon caused by vibrations. We discuss the change in the effectiveness of the backdrivability with the change in the vibration direction. Finally, we experimentally confirm the certainty of the analysis.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-019-0149-7

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

<p>This paper proposes a novel method for on-chip cell culture, "Serially Arranged Wall Driving On-Chip Micro Mixer." It has circular chambers which are connected to a main channel and a driving channel which surrounds circular chambers and they are serially connected. By vibrating water in the driving channel, we could pump up solution from the main channel to circular chambers and mix it. The purpose of this research are to enhance a pumping up and mixing speed by introduction of surfactants and to generate different density chambers inside a small chip. The driving channel and circular chambers are absolutely isolated by a PDMS wall. Since surfactants are introduced into only the driving channel, we do not have to concern about bad effect on cells. The experimental results show that there is an appropriate concentration of surfactants to enhance the pumping up and mixing speed. We also could generate different density circular chambers.</p>

DOI： 10.1299/jsmermd.2019.2P1-G03

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-018-0127-5

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：{AIP} Publishing  

DOI： 10.1063/1.5033482

PubMed

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Institute of Physics Inc.  

DOI： 10.1063/1.5031082

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PubMed

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.  

DOI： 10.1109/MEMSYS.2018.8346759

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ({IEEE})  

DOI： 10.1109/tmech.2017.2770140

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.3390/s18010191

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PubMed

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Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/IROS.2018.8593418

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.  

DOI： 10.1109/IROS.2017.8206132

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer International Publishing  

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-017-0077-3

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer International Publishing  

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-017-0084-4

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

DOI： 10.1186/s40648-017-0090-6

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1007/s00268-017-4033-4

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PubMed

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Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/CBS.2017.8266066

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/MHS.2017.8305227

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Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/MHS.2017.8305213

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

<p>In minimally invasive surgery robots, force sensing is required to improve its manipulability. To perform delicate surgery, three-axis force sensing is desired. However, in general, the force resolution in the axial direction is worse than that in the radial direction owning to a slender shape of a forceps. This paper proposes a double diaphragm structure for forceps flexural elements. The distance between the two diaphragms can adjust the rigidity in the radial direction without changing the rigidity in the axial direction when the thickness of the diaphragm is constant. Thus, the thickness of the diaphragm adjusts the rigidity in the axial direction, while the distance between the two diaphragms adjusts the rigidity in the radial direction. A planar spiral cutting in the cross section of the diaphragm can reduce the maximum stress applied on it. Moreover, by adjusting the two spiral phases and direction, the crosstalk of the radial and axial forces can be reduced. In 5 mm forceps simulation, the rigidity of the axial direction is almost equal to that of the radial direction when the distance between the two diaphragms is 6.0 mm. We performed experiments of 10 mm forceps model and confirmed that the resolution of the radial direction is almost equal to that of the axial direction when the distance between the two diaphragms is 12.0 mm.</p>

DOI： 10.1299/transjsme.17-00253

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

<p>In three-axis force sensors for forceps, the force resolution in the radial direction is worse than that in the axial direction owning to a slender shape of a forceps. This paper proposes a double diaphragm spring structure for forceps. The length between the two diaphragms can adjust the rigidity in the radial direction while it does not affect the rigidity in the axial direction. A planar spiral cutting in the cross section of the diaphragm can reduce the maximum stress applied on it. We developed a double-diaphragm spring structure for a 10 mm forceps and confirmed its isotropic resolutions in the axial and radial directions.</p>

DOI： 10.1299/jsmermd.2017.1A1-K04

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

<p>To intuitively control arc-shaped surgical devices for pharyngeal cancer surgery, we proposed a 3-DOF mechanical motion conversion manipulator in our previous work. The manipulator converts the input translation of the handle to the rotation motion of an arc-shaped device. The rotation motion prevents the device from colliding with the oral and throat organs of the patient during insertion. The manipulator is inexpensive and has high reliability because it transforms motions only through mechanical links without using actuators. However, it cannot maintain its posture against the effect of the gravity in absence of actuators. This requires the operator to continuously hold onto the handle, which is not practical in the real surgery. In this paper we propose a simple design procedure to develop a weight compensator. We developed and applied the proposed weight compensator to our mechanical manipulator.</p>

DOI： 10.1299/jsmermd.2017.1A1-L02

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1080/01691864.2016.1251336

Web of Science

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japanese Society for Medical and Biological Engineering  

<p>If a novel concept machine is developed for many purpose at once, the machine can become overly complicated. Such complicated machine is not suitable for practical use because of its low reliability and low cost performance. Of course, cost performance can often be ignored in surgical robots development. However, expensive robots can be introduced only in large hospitals, which might limit the reach of its benefit to many people. Therefore, we are developing simple mechanisms by determining essential functions for each of the operations.</p>

DOI： 10.11239/jsmbe.54Annual.S147

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1109/TMECH.2015.2411752

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1016/j.sna.2014.11.007

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/IROS.2015.7353511

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In pharyngeal cancer surgery, an arc-shaped forceps is used for operations in the curved narrow working space of the throat. A flexible endoscope is also used because the affected portion is not visible directly. Due to the difference between the direction of the endoscopic view and that of the forceps handle, control of the forceps is not intuitive and the surgeons are required of high manipulation skills. In this paper, we propose a 3-DOF mechanical motion converter, which converts the backward and forward input motion to the rotating motion about the arc center of the forceps in order to prevent collision between the forceps and the organs during insertion. In addition, up and down, and right and left input motions are transmitted to the arc-shaped forceps. These motion conversion and transmission allow intuitive manipulation as if the surgeon manipulated a linear forceps. The proposed mechanism performs the motion conversion and transmission only through mechanical links without any actuators. Thus, it is safe and inexpensive, and its early introduction to practice can be expected. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism can convert and transmit the input motions, and the front end of the arc-shaped forceps can move inside a pharynx mockup as expected.

DOI： 10.1299/transjsme.14-00096

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Japan Fluid Power Systems Society  

DOI： 10.5739/jfps.45.51

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Fuji Technology Press  

DOI： 10.20965/jrm.2013.p0863

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ICRA.2013.6631271

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Robotics Society of Japan  

This paper proposes helical rotation in-pipe locomotion inspired by spirochetes, a kind of bacteria. The principle of helical rotation enables us to develop a simple and small structure to propel inside a pipe with a flexible body actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. Such a robot is expected to move inside a winding tube without a special control strategy. Furthermore its rolling motion is unlikely to damage the inner wall of a pipe and its helical shape does not stuff a pipe. This paper analyzes the motion of the elastic body that is bent and rotated by SMA wires. Based on the analysis, we develop a prototype robot by developing SMA wires that can exert an appropriate force and that can also contract an appropriate amount of length. Experimental results show that the prototype robot can achieve helical rotating motion and propulsion in straight and curved tubes.

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.31.879

CiNii Books

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Other Link： https://jlc.jst.go.jp/DN/JALC/10026810644?from=CiNii

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1299/kikaic.79.1893

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1109/TMECH.2010.2094198

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DOI： 10.20965/jrm.2011.p0034

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1163/016918611X584659

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/SII.2011.6147437

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/SII.2011.6147434

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1109/TMECH.2010.2081997

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152835

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354545

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152823

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ROBOT.2008.4543809

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ROBOT.2008.4543811

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

DOI： 10.1109/ROBOT.2007.363794

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2006.05.012

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1163/156855306777951438

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Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/IROS.2004.1389328

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Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：電子情報通信学会  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：電子情報通信学会  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本フルードパワーシステム学会  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Various pipes are used in the factory and the human body also consists of pipes. In order to inspect such pipes, we have developed twisted bundled tube locomotive device. However, the diameter of the minimum pipe in that the device can move was 9mm. Therefore, we are downsizing the mechanism, aimed to utilize the device in the small pipe such as a blood vessel. In this paper we developed the device by using a silicone tube of 1mm in diameter. In order to constrict the inflation of the diameter of the tube by pressure, we wound the thread around wound tubes and solidified by latex. The devise can move in the pipe with a diameter of 2.5 mm.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In endoscopic laryngo-pharyngeal surgery (ELPS), surgeons use an arc-shaped forceps and tools to remove the affected portion by observing it with a flexible endoscope. Because the direction of the endoscopic view and that of the forceps handle are different, surgeons are required of high manipulation skills. To overcome this problem, we have proposed a 3-DOF mechanical motion converter, which converts the backward and forward input motion to the rotating motion about the arc center of the forceps. The experiment with the first prototype showed the enhancement of the controllability. However, the device is too large for installing in the operating workspace. In this paper, we developed a new motion converter taking account of the installable workspace in the operation.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

There are many usage of endoscopes in industrial and medical fields. There are many studies to assist insertion of endoscopes. We have proposed the soft in-pipe mobile robot named the bundled-tube locomotive device that consists of three inflatable tubes. There are two type of the device; a helix and a braid. However the helix type cannot travel without rotating, and the braid type is not suitable for equipping an electrical wire or a tool channel. In this study, we developed the new bundled-tube locomotive devices with many tubes. They can solve the problems of the old devices with three tubes. The results of the experiments prove that these developed device can travel in pipes.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In pharyngeal cancer surgery and single port surgery, arc-shaped forceps are used. Although some of them can rotate their tips in the axial direction, they have insufficient torsional rigidity because elastic inner pipes are used to transmit the torsional rotation. In this study, we propose a cracked metal pipe with ununiform intervals that can bend with a shape matching with an outer pipe still having sufficient torsional rigidity. We designed a cracked inner pipe by using computer simulation for a 5 mm diameter forceps. The contact force with an outer pipe is reduced, resulting in a small resistant torque caused by friction. We experimentally confirm that it can rotate with a torque of about 0.5 Nmm in the groove on an ABS plate.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Backdrivability is necessary to make robots compliant to contact. Such compliance is helpful to perform cooperative tasks together with human and to protect mechanisms from a collision. We developed robot hands that can generate a large grasping force and a high speed motion. One of them uses worm gear mechanisms. A worm gear cannot be back-driven because of the friction between the tooth surfaces. Therefore, we developed a worm gear mechanism that can change its backdrivability by the reduction of the friction using vibration. In this paper, we describe the differences in the performance of the backdrivability by the vibration directions. We experimentally confirmed that the vibration to the wheel axis direction improved the performance of the backdrivability than the vibration to the screw axis direction.

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Language：English   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

A robot finger equipped with a novel load-sensitive cable-driven force magnification mechanism (FMM) is developed. The mechanism uses only one motor to achieve the two-phase movement of the finger; the high-speed phase when approaching an object and the high-grasping-force phase after the finger made contact with the object. Through the use of the pulleys and the rack-gear tilting mechanism, the developed FMM can swiftly change its reduction ratio. The validity of the concept was verified by experiment. The developed finger was able to provide a fingertip force changing from 1 N to 15.24 N with a maximum finger joint speed of 388 deg/s.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Oral permanent brachytherapy with 198Au seeds implants radiation seeds around a tumor for regression of the target. However, the doctor is exposed to radiation in the treatment. This paper presents a remote seed loading device to reduce the doctor&#039;s exposure dose. In the loading experiment, a seed model can be loaded into the applicator from a long distance with the device. We conducted an evaluation experiment of the treatment with the device for estimating the reduction of exposure dose by measuring the required time and the distance between seeds and a subject. It is shown that the loading device can reduce exposure dose more than 60 % than that of the current treatment.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We develop wave-shaped tubes to improve the bending performance of the bundled-tube locomotive device. If one of the tubes is pressured, the pressured tube inflates and the device bends. When a conventional tube is inflated, its diameter is increased, which prevents the device from moving in a small pipe. The proposed wave-shaped tube enables the device to bend without the diameter increment. The wave-shaped tube has thick and thin regions. The thin regions can inflate largely, whereas the diameter increment is inhibited by the thick regions. Therefore, the wave-shaped tube inflates only in the axial direction. We produced helix and braid type devices made of the wave-shaped tubes. The experimental data verify that these devices have better bending performance than the devices made of conventional tubes.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In laparoscopic surgery, it is difficult to grasp large internal organs and drag it to make appropriate workspace by using conventional apparatus. Therefore, this paper proposes an assemblable mechanical hand for grasping the end of internal organs. This mechanical hand consists of the several units that can pass through a trocar, and can be assembled into a three fingered hand. Moreover, we developed a suction cup that can actively bend to fit the curved surface of the internal organs. The fingers equipped with the developed suction cups can grasp a pig liver without slippage.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In oral cancer brachytherapy, doctors are exposed to radiation from ^&lt;198&gt;Au sources. We proposed a remotely loading device to solve this problem. The remotely loading device is composed of a source cartridge, a delivering mechanism, a low-friction tube, and an applicator holder. This paper presents an ^&lt;198&gt;Au sources alignment and delivering mechanisms for the remotely loading source device. Sources aligned in the cartridge are pushed by air pressure and are loaded into an applicator in the holder one by one through the low-friction tube. The doctor can then use the loaded applicator without much exposure dose. Preliminary experiments of alignment and delivery of ^&lt;198&gt;Au sources are shown in this paper.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Backdrivability is necessary to perform high compliance for robots. Compliance helps to do cooperative tasks together with human and protects mechanisms in a collision. We developed robot hands that can generate a large grasp force and a high speed motion. The force-magnification mechanisms installed in our previous hands need a non-backdrivable element so that their high-speed drive mechanisms cannot be back-driven. One of them uses worm gear mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a worm gear mechanism that can change its backdrivability by reduction of the friction using vibration. We experimentally confirmed the backdrivability of the developed mechanism.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In laparoscopic surgery, retracting large and heavy internal organs is often required. Therefore many retractors that can be inserted through a trocar into the abdominal cavity are developed. This paper uses granular jamming mechanism to develop a retractor having a large surface to safely handle bulky internal organs. First, a sack attached at the front tip of the retractor is shrunk so that it can be inserted through a trocar. Then, granular objects sent into the sack by air flow inflate it. Finally, by vacuuming the air, the sack can be hardened from jamming effect of the granular objects, so that it can be used as a retractor. To remove the retractor from the abdominal cavity, granular objects are vented out by air flow, which shrinks the retractor head. The performance of the retractor is shown based on experimental data.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We developed a micro-whistle-type sensor driven by pneumatic pressure for the measurement of the applying force at the tip of a forceps in endoscopic surgery. The displacement applied to the sensor can be detected by the change of the resonant frequency of the whistle, which is controllable by the length of a resonant tube. It was fabricated using surface micromachining, resulting in the advantages: small size enough to be integrated into a forceps and capability of mass production. The standard deviation of the resonant frequency was 1.8 Hz and the magnitude of the sound was 83 dB. We obtained the proportional relationship between the length of the tube and the resonant frequency. Although these properties are comparable to our previous whistle-type sensor fabricated by a NC machine tool, it is proven that the MEMS based fabrication can produce a number of equal quality sensors.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本フルードパワーシステム学会  

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CiNii Books

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CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Capsule endoscope cannot carry out observation at a fixed point because it uses the intestinal peristalsis as a means of transportation. Therefore, in order to carry out observation at a fixed point with a capsule endoscope, a brake attached to the capsule endoscope is effective to stop it at the point. This paper proposes a helical expansion mechanism as a brake for capsule endoscope and develops a cable-driven brake mechanism. The helix expanded by pulling the cable pushes the intestine, which serves as brake. We show the performance of the helical expansion mechanism as a braking mechanism by experiment.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We have presented the availability of our slip sensor using pressure conductive rubber for detecting initial slip, however, we have not revealed the principle of high-frequency wave occurrence which takes the detection method. Clarification of the principle is required for optimized design of the slip sensor, especially the property of the pressure conductive rubber and the shape of the detecting part, and for reduction of individual difference of detection characteristic of the slip sensor. This paper discusses the principle through a series of experiments and finally shows that localized fixing and peeling between pressure conductive rubber and electrodes in the slip sensor configuration has influence with the principle.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

DOI： 10.1299/kikaic.78.3541

Scopus

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In our research group, we are developing a signal processing system for a compact sized and high speed slip detective sensor.We found that it is difficult to tell initial slipping from shaped normal force charging with the traditional processing method by DWT(db2). But the raw signal of initial slipping is obviously different from the signal of a shaped normal force charging. So we differentiated the slip detection sensor&#039;s output to determine either the shaped normal force is charging or the tangential force is charging. As a result, we improved the accuracy of slip detection. I will report about that in this paper.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper presents a back-drivable two-fingered four-degree of freedom hand that can generate a large grasping force of 120N. All fingers are 98 mm in length and the weight of the hand is 1.2kg. The hand can generate a large grasp force with a new force-magnification mechanism and all joints can perform a high speed motion of larger than 750deg/s with a high-speed driving mechanism. The force-magnification mechanism installed in our previous hands need a non-backdrivable element, which loses compliance. The new force-magnification mechanism is connected to the high-speed driving mechanism only when it is activated. Therefore the high-speed driving mechanism can be back driven maintaining high compliance.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper proposes a remotely operated brachytherapy system for oral cancer. The purpose of the system is to reduce exposure dose of the operator (healthcare workers) by keeping him or her away from Au grain-seeds at a distance of I m. The system is designed so that the operator can perform the same procedure as the conventional brachytherapy treatment. It is composed of a five degree-of-freedom applicator manipulator to implant Au grain-seeds, a finger device to grasp organs in mouth, operational parts for them, and a base arm. The applicator manipulator and the finger device are installed on the base arm fixed on a shield for radiation proof. The finger device is composed of a three-DoF parallel mechanism so that its fingertip can move in three directions. This paper shows results of insertion experiments.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese  

CiNii Books

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CiNii Books

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CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本フルードパワーシステム学会  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Robotics Society of Japan  

This paper presents a proximity sensor for recognizing an object in 360&lt;sup&gt;&amp;ordm;&lt;/sup&gt; all around with response time only 1[ms]. The sensor applies unique design of analog net-structure circuit, which enables all-face mounting on various peripheries, fast-response, and simplification of information processing. Thus, the sensor is especially available for avoiding sudden contact with rapidly approaching objects for mobile robots, robot arms, robot hands, and other robotic systems. In this paper, the structure and detecting principle of the sensor are firstly described, then, its detection property is tested by experiments. The result shows that the sensor recognizes the angle of the nearby object with accuracy of 3[deg]. Furthermore, as practical use of the sensor, a large size model is produced for a mobile robot to achieve omni-directional sensing. By using the application model, two detection methods are discussed on situations where the number or the position of objects differs.

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.29.683

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Robotics Society of Japan  

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.29.512

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper presents a helical rotation mobile robot for in-pipe inspection driven by pneumatic actuators. A helical rotation is a motion in which a helical body revolves about its body axis. A helical rotation robot is less likely to injure the inside wall of the pipe and does not disturbs fluid flowing in the pipe. We developed two prototypes actuated by wire and SMA (shape memory alloy). In this paper, a new prototype consisting of three twisted silicone tubes is developed. It generates a helical rotation by expansion of the silicone tubes in turn. Its speed is increased up to 40mm/s and size is decreased. Moreover, it can move in a curved pipe.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Slip detecting tactile sensors are essential to achieving a human-like gripping motion with a robot hand. Up until now, we have proposed flexible, thin and lightweight slip sensor utilizing characteristics of pressure conductive rubber. When an object slides on the surface of our slip sensor, the complex output change occurs. By using this output change, this sensor can distinguish between the object slip and the normal force change. But, the mechanism of the complex voltage change is unclear. So, in this paper, we will observe the slip surface of an acrylic plate and the rubber with a high-speed camera. And, we report on the sensor output and the relation to the sensor output and the state of rubber.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Slip detecting tactile sensors are essential to achieving a human-like gripping motion with a robot hand. Up until now, we have proposed flexible, thin and lightweight slip sensor utilizing characteristics of pressure conductive rubber. This sensor can distinguish between condition of the object slip and the normal force change using a frequency component. In previous research, it was considered that the separation of these conditions was very difficult, but we managed to achieve it. We had suggested the separate algorithm by using Discrete Wavelet Transform signal processing. In this paper, we will discuss about the filtering method in the algorithm.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We have proposed robot hands that can be assembled inside the abdominal cavity to grasp/manipulate large internal organs and developed a hand that has an ultrasound probe on its fingertip. This paper shows a fingertip for contact sensing with the ultrasound probe. Gel pieces with metal markers on its top and bottom surfaces are attached to the fingertips of the hand. The positions of the markers can be obtained by getting a B mode image with the ultrasound probe. When an organ makes contact with the gel piece, the positions of the markers on the image shift. We conducted experiment for verifying contact sensing utilizing the method.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In this paper, we propose a design method of resistance for Net Structure Proximity Sensor (NSPS). Generally, vision sensors and tactile sensors are used for the external world measurement. A vision sensor has the problem of occlusion and a tactile sensor cannot detect until coming in contact. Therefore, we have developed NSPS that detects the intermediate area of vision and tactile area. NSPS can detect within 1ms the center position of the approaching object and the distance to the object without contact. This sensor is composed of resistor networks connected by phototransistor. The performance of NSPS is determined by the resistance in the networks. However, there was no practical design method of the resisters because of the network circuit. Accordingly, we describe a method for designing easily arbitrary dynamic range and faster measurement speed and confirm the validity of the proposed method.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

By the recent research, we found that the electrical resistance change occurs because of the shear deformation of pressure conductive rubber. Therefore,we are proposing the slip sensor of a simple composition that consists of pressure conductive rubber and the electrode. This sensor has detected slipping by using the complex voltage change generated just before object slip on the sensor. In this paper, it proposes the method of the signal processing to which this voltage change is extracted by discrete wavelet transform, and it reports on the information processing system that builds it in.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In this paper, we propose an omni-directional mobile robot that can assist to transport a baggage in the crowded situations. It is necessary to possess a high-speed and wide-ranging environments recognition and high motion mechanisms so that the robot may work more effectively, for instance under situations such as airports and the hospitals. So, we developed the robot which has omni-directional net proximity sensor, which can detect the center position of current distribution and relative distance from an object to the sensor within 1 ms, and it has also omni-directional driving mechanism using Omni-Ball which consists of two hemispherical wheels. In addition, the performance of the prototype robot system is verified through experiments.

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Publisher：The Robotics Society of Japan  

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.29.481

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper describes the morphing omnidirectional gripper which is able to grasp various objects with low melting point alloy, functional fluid, dilatancy fluid, and so on. The deformable part of the gripper changes its shape by covering all direction of objects and makes the contacting area higher. This time, we especially focus on the &quot;Hot Ice&quot; phenomena to realize higher grasping motion. The basic performance of fluid of CH3COONa has been observed.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

DOI： 10.1299/kikaic.76.3542

Scopus

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We have proposed robot hands that can be assembled inside the abdominal cavity to grasp/manipulate large internal organs. However, previous hands were equipped with no sensors. This paper presents a two-fingered assemblable hand with ultrasonic transducers, which enables observation of the inside of an internal organ. Ultrasonic sensing can provide the operator with deformation information of an internal organ. It also implies the accuracy improvement of the configuration of another finger in contact with the internal organ. This paper shows results of preliminary experiments.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

By the recent research, we found that the electrical resistance change occurs because of the shear deformation of pressure conductive rubber. Therefore, we expect that can detect the object slippage by measuring the electrical resistance change of pressure conductive rubber when the object slips on the rubber. In this paper, we examine the difference of the output by an internal particle of pressure conductive rubber and hardness and the covering material.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We developed a parallel jaw gripper with a force magnification mechanism that can exert a large grip force of 200N. The motion range of the jaw is 100 mm, and its speed is 66 mm/s, and its weight is 2000g. We have proposed a combination mechanism of a high-speed driving and force-magnification mechanism. However the proposed force magnification mechanism can exert a large grasping force only in the closing direction. Moreover it needs to use some non-backdrivable mechanisms, and it has possibility of lock up. The parallel jaw gripper has an improved force magnification mechanism that can magnify the grasping force in both the opening and closing directions, avoiding mechanical lock up. The grasping procedure that can exert a maximum grasping force is also discussed.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In this paper, a new prototype of a helical distortion mobile robot for in-pipe inspection is presented. A helical distortion is a motion of a helical body which revolves on its body axis. This motion avoids damage to the inside wall of a pipe. The robot is flexible and has a simple structure. This paper presents the principle of this motion and the structure of the new prototype. To downsize the robot, SMA (shape memory alloy) actuators are employed for the new prototype. The experimental result shows that a helical distortion is effective in moving inside of a pipe.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper presents a force sensor for laparoscopic surgery forceps. This sensor uses the sound generated from a whistle installed inside the forceps. The whistle has a piston to which a slider is connected. When a pulling force is applied to the slider, the spring that supports the piston is compressed and the length of the whistle pipe increases. Because the resonance frequency of the sound depends on the length of the pipe, the pulling force can be measured by measuring the change of the resonance frequency. An inexpensive microphone can measure the resonance frequency. We experimentally confirm that the sensor can measure applied forces.

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese  

CiNii Books

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CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

We proposed a new in-pipe propulsion method with a helical distortion mechanism. Helical distortion is a motion that a helix rotates about its body axis. This method has advantages in simplicity and flexibility compared with previous ones. We have developed a prototype of a helical body for experiments. The expansion and contraction of its wires produce this motion. The result have shown that the helical distortion mechanism is effective in in-pipe propulsion. For propulsion in an actual pipe, we will downsize the driving part of the prototype.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

DOI： 10.1299/kikaic.75.2013

Scopus

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Slip detecting tactile sensors are essential to achieving a human-like gripping motion with a robot hand. Up until now, we have proposed flexible, thin and lightweight slip sensor utilizing characteristics of pressure conductive rubber. However, this sensor was difficult to distinguish between the object slip and the normal force change. So, we consider the separative method using high frequency components generated by object slip. In this paper, we will discuss about the high frequency components.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper presents Tokyo-TECH 100 N Hand II, a three-fingered eight-degree of freedom hand that can generate a large grasp force of 100N. All fingers are 107 mm in length and the weight of the hand is 1063 g. The hand can generate a large grasp force with a torque-magnification mechanism and all joints can perform a high speed motion of over 400deg/s with a high-speed driving mechanism. The torque magnification mechanism can maintain a large grasp force without energy consumption. In the previous work (Tokyo-TECH 100 N Hand), a screw and nut mechanism is used for the force-magnification mechanism. However it makes the motion range of each joint small and the size of the hand large. In this paper, we introduce a worm gear instead of a screw and nut mechanism, which makes it possible to magnify the force at an arbitrary angle of the joint.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper describes the morphing omnidirectional gripper which is able to grasp various objects with low melting point alloy. The deformable part of the gripper changes its shape by covering all directionof objects and makes the contacting area higher. In order to keep the high grasping force, proposed gripper does not need any additional energy thanks to the solid state of the deformable part including low melting point alloy. The design of the actual prototype model with cooling mechanism is shown and built. In addition, the usage of functional fluids for the morphing part is proposed. The basic performance of the blended material of low melting point alloy and magnetic fluid has been observed.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

By the recent research, we found that the electrical resistance change occurs when the transformation of not only the transformation of the normal direction but also the shear direction occurred to the pressure conductive rubber. In this paper, we verified the characteristic to the normal force and the tangential force about various pressure conductive rubbers.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

This paper describes linear load-sensitive continuously variable transmission with the spherical driving unit. This CVT mechanism consists of spherical drive, drive axis, motor housing, fixed bracket and linear sliding plate. It changes the reduction ratio continuously by inclination angle of active rotational axis. Additionally, this linear mechanism has a load-sensitive function by changing inclination of active rotational axis in response to the load. We have developed a linear load-sensitive continuously variable transmission and confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本コンピュ-タ外科学会  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：一般社団法人 日本ロボット学会  

In laparoscopic surgery, surgeons perform surgery in the abdominal cavity by using only rod-shaped instruments that can be inserted through the small halls of trocars. Thus, they cannot use large and complicated shaped traditional instruments for abdominal surgery, nor their hands directly. When it is difficult to perform surgery by using only instruments for laparoscopic surgery, surgeons often make a 7-8 [cm] incision through which large instruments or their hands can be inserted. This paper propose an assemblable mechanical hand like a human hand that can be inserted through trocars. There are two directions in this study. One is to develop a few degree of freedom hand specialized for a single task and the other to develop a large degree of freedom hand with multiple functions like a human hands. We developed an assemblable three fingerd five-DOF hand in the latter direction. This hand consists of body and finger units, and an installation tool. The finger unit is fixed to the body unit with only one screw by using the installation tool. To drive the fingers, power is transmitted with wires, gears and shafts. Experimental results verify that the hand can grasp and pushing aside

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.26.453

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In Laparoscopic surgery, surgeons cannot use their own hand directory. Therefore, they retract an organ with a slender instrument called retractor. Current retractors do not have area enough to retract an organ gently. This paper proposes an assemblable mechanical retractor-hand that can be inserted through a trocar. The aim of this research is to design a practical assemblable hand by limiting its application to retracting. Previous work already reveals that assembling in the abdominal cavity is possible. However, assembling require skills of a surgeon. Therefore we propose new assembling sequence, &quot;Single Trocar Assembling&quot;, that uses only one trocar. Experimental results verify that the hand can be assembled easily and withstand a force of 25N in a retracting experiment.

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In laparoscopic surgery, surgeons often make a 7-8 cm incision through which traditional instruments for abdominal surgery and their hands directly when it is difficult to perform surgery by using only slender instruments for laparoscopic surgery. We have developed an assemblable three fingered five-DOF hand like a human hand that can be inserted through trocars. This paper describes an improved finger mechanism and its evaluation in In Vivo experiment. The middle finger and the forefinger have interlocking joint mechanisms in which the two joints of each finger equally or proportionally rotate. The base joint of the thumb adopts a locking mechanism. Experimental results verify that the hand can grasp and open internal organs.

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Slip detecting tactile sensors are essential to achieving a human-like gripping motion with a robot hand. Up until now, we have developed flexible, thin and lightweight center of pressure (CoP) sensor. The sensor, constructed of pressure conductive rubber sandwiched between two sheets of conductive film, is able to detect the center position of the load distribution and the total load. Recently, detection of initial slip has been shown to be possible. However the detection principles are unclear. In this paper, we will discuss the slip detection principle of CoP sensor and the properties.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：一般社団法人 日本ロボット学会  

In laparoscopic surgery, surgeons can use only rod-shaped instruments that can be inserted through a trocar and therefore high techniques are required. To overcome this problem, much work has been done to develop multi-degree-of-freedom forceps. However they are still inadequate to handle or retract large organs, like a spleen, pancreas, and liver. This paper proposes mechanical hands with detachable fingers that can be assembled in the abdominal cavity, each of whose parts is inserted through a trocar. Two types of such three-fingered hands are developed. The three fingers of one of them are dependently driven and those of the other are independently driven. For each hand, we show locking and power transmission mechanisms. Power of each hand is transmitted from operator&#039;s hand to its fingers by connecting wires with a ball and socket. Experimental results verify that both hands can grasp large and oily objects like organs. When rod-shaped instruments are not enough to accomplish laparoscopic surgery, hand assist laparoscopic surgery is often applied. The goal of this study is to develop robot hands that can replace surgeons&#039; hands in hand assisted laparoscopic surgery.

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.25.478

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Working on a wall is extremely dangerous for humans and mobile robots working on a wall are highly desired. Most of previous wall climbing robots stick fast to a wall, which is necessary to perform tasks on a wall. However for fast locomotion, this is not desirable. In addition they still need to be hung with a lifeline for safety. In this paper, we propose a mobile robot with twin reversible rotors hung with wires. When the robot performs tasks, the rotors push its body against the wall and when the robot locomotes, the rotors are reversed so that the robot can hover and locomote fast with the winding wires.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In laparoscopic surgery, surgeons cannot use large and complicated shaped traditional instruments for abdominal surgery and their hands directly. When it is difficult to perform surgery by using only instruments for laparoscopic surgery, surgeons often make a 7-8 cm incision through which large instruments or their hand can be inserted. This paper propose an assemblable mechanical hand like a human hand that can be inserted through trocars. We developed an assemblable three fingerd five-DOF hand. To drive its fingers, power is transmitted with wires, gears and shafts. Experimental results verify that the hand can grasp and pushing aside various objects.

J-GLOBAL

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

To prevent the robot from dropping the object, the tactile sensor which detects not only the contact position and force but also slip sense is necessary. In this study, it aims to detect a slip with the Center of Pressure (CoP) tactile sensor. This sensor can install in the robot hand, and has the feature of flexibility, thinly, and lightness. CoP tactile sensor can measure center position of distributed load and total load. In addition, we show that CoP tactile sensor can detect the tangential force and describe the influence of the coating material used for the sensor surface protection.

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CiNii Books

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Language：English  

DOI： 10.1163/156855306777951438

Web of Science

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

In laparoscopic surgery, operators can use only rod-shaped forceps and therefore high techniques are required. To overcome this problem, much work has been done to develop multi-dof forceps. However they are still inappropriate to handle or retract large objects like organs. This paper proposes mechanical hands that can be assembled in the abdominal cavity. Each part is inserted through trocars. Two types of such three-fingered hands are developed. The three fingers of one are independently driven and those of the other are not. Experimental results verify that both hands can grasp a large and oily objects like organs. The goal of this study is to develop robot hands that can replace HALS (Hand-Assist Laparoscopic Surgery).

J-GLOBAL

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CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：一般社団法人 日本ロボット学会  

Active Cord Mechanism is a mechanism in which the joints are coupled in many numbers in series, just like a snake. Typical studies of the propulsion of the Active Cord Mechanism focus on the 2D winding movement, like a snake. But Active Cord Mechanism may generate very efficient locomotion by introducing 3D motion. This paper proposes a new kind of propulsion principle for the underwater Active Cord Mechanism, in which each articulated body segment creates distortion motion, while keeping the whole body in a helical shape. The helical body will revolve around the center axis of the helices due to the forces generated by the distortion motion, and progress along the center axis of the helices. This paper also discusses about the design and control of a new mechanical prototype to realize a hermetic underwater 3D Active Cord Mechanism. Finally the effectiveness of the proposed principle for the underwater Active Cord Mechanism is evaluated by experiments using the developed robot.

DOI： 10.7210/jrsj.22.625

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：一般社団法人 日本機械学会  

鉄骨や鉄筋コンクリートが利用された建物内では電波が届きにくく, 無線による遠隔操縦は適さない。我々は有線による遠隔操縦ロボットとして本体内にドラムを装備しケーブルを排出しながら推進する方法を検討し, このための移動車両&quot;蒼龍III号機&quot;を開発する。

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

これまでに行われてきた索状能動体の水中遊泳の研究の多くは平面波運動による物が多かった。しかし水中では胴体表面全てが水と接触しているため, 立体運動によって接触面全てを有効に利用した水中遊泳が行えると考えられる。そこで我々は索状能動体が螺旋型になって捻転する事で推進力を出す&quot;螺旋捻転推進&quot;というスピロヘータで観察される遊泳方式の工学的利用を検討する。本論文ではこれを行う為の立体運動を行う水密な索状能動体&quot;HELIX&quot;を開発し, 実験的に&quot;螺旋捻転推進&quot;が実現可能であることを示す。

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

CiNii Books

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：一般社団法人 日本機械学会  

大地震等の大規模災害時には被災者を早期に救出する必要がある。本研究では, 倒壊家屋内の様な狭隘部での移動体として, これまでにない移動方式をとる螺旋体型移動体を取り上げる。これは螺旋状の鍔を持つ多節体を螺旋状にくねらせて瓦礫内に入っていく移動体である。本機体はその構造上, 水陸両用の移動体となりうる。そこで, そのために最適な形状と移動方式について検討し, その妥当性を実験によって検証する。

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Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Presentation type：Poster presentation  

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Country：Japan

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Country：Japan

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