Towards a Modular Compliant Actuator Toolkit
ORCID
- Swen E. Gaudl: 0000-0003-3116-3761
- Pablo Borja: 0000-0001-7744-0846
Abstract
Compliant Actuators differ from traditional Servo Actuators via the ability to sense and control for forces, in addition to position and velocity. A multitude of concepts exist: force-torque control of brushless DC motors, Series Elastic Actuators (SEAs) featuring a physical elastic element, and Variable Stiffness Actuators (VSA), which use a stiffness control mechanism to modulate the physical stiffness of the elastic element. However, due to the complexity, variety, and prohibitive cost of parts and fabrication, there is a lack of reproduction, which hinders the, development, adoption, and application of such devices. This paper introduces the concept of a Modular Compliant Actuator Toolkit (MCAT), intended to facilitate cost-effective design, control, fabrication, and testing. The MCAT comprises of 3D printed panels and parts which assemble to form a box-shaped compliant actuator, using off-the-shelf components, supplemented with associated hardware and code. By identifying the challenges pertaining to the research and development of compliant actuators , and segmenting them into discrete aspects of the MCAT, a user can focus their efforts on their specific research, without the upfront cost of time, labour, and finance. Additionally presents on-going progress towards a low cost SEA prototype, and discusses the lessons learned from development.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2025-08-13
Event
26th Annual Conference on Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, TAROS 2025
Publication Title
Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems - 26th Annual Conference, TAROS 2025, Proceedings
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
ISBN
9783032014856
ISSN
0302-9743
Acceptance Date
2025-05-19
Deposit Date
2026-02-27
Embargo Period
2026-08-13
Additional Links
Keywords
compliance, robotics, series elastic actuator, variable stiffness
First Page
94
Last Page
107
Recommended Citation
Smith, O., Gaudl, S., & Borja, P. (2025) 'Towards a Modular Compliant Actuator Toolkit', Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems - 26th Annual Conference, TAROS 2025, Proceedings, , pp. 94-107. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH: Available at: 10.1007/978-3-032-01486-3_9
This item is under embargo until 13 August 2026
