Large stroke spherical
flexure joint
End-effector connected to the upper set of folded leafsprings Intermediate body connecting the lower and upper set of
folded leafsprings
Wire EDM set of folded leafsprings (6 in total)
Base connected to the lower set of folded leafsprings
• The flexure joint consists of folded leafsprings where all folding lines intersect the instant
center of rotation to only allow for three rotational degrees of freedom, allowing for ±30° tip/tilt and ±10° twist motion.
• The design is optimized for support stiffness over the full range of motion taking into
account collision, resulting in high support stiffness over the full range of motion
• The optimization is conducted with a shape optimization method where performance is
evaluated with a flexible multibody software which provides fast and accurate results, enabling for efficient optimization.
Key features
Translational motion is constrained by a set of folded leafsprings
The instant center of rotation of the end-effector and
intermediate body coincide in order to maintain high support stiffness when deflected
The deflection is distributed over two stages allowing for increased support stiffness and range of motion
M. Naves, R.G.K.M. Aarts, D.M. Brouwer
University of Twente Precision Engineering
De Horst, 7500AE Enschede Email: m.naves@utwente.nl
Acknowledgment
This research was funded by the
Innovative Research Incentives Scheme VIDI (14152 NWO TTW) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the
Netherlands. Translational z-stiffness Translational x/y-stiffness 30° tilt-motion 30° tip-motion x y z
