1976/01/01 by Liansen Sha, Andi Lin, Xinqiao Zhao +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Finance, Taxation, and Governance #Manufacturing Process and Optimization #Robotic Mechanisms and Dynamics #Topology Optimization in Engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/0036850420936482
openalex publication_date 1976/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · crossref issued 2020/07/01 · crossref published 2020/07/01 · crossref published-online 2020/07/01 · crossref published-print 2020/07/01 · crossref created 2020/07/01 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
Topology optimization is a widely used lightweight design method for structural design of the collaborative robot. In this article, a topology optimization method for the robot lightweight design is proposed based on finite element analysis of the assembly so as to get the minimized weight and to avoid the stress analysis distortion phenomenon that compared the conventional topology optimization method by adding equivalent confining forces at the analyzed part's boundary. For this method, the stress and deformation of the robot's parts are calculated based on the finite element analysis of the assembly model. Then, the structure of the parts is redesigned with the goal of minimized mass and the constraint of maximum displacement of the robot's end by topology optimization. The proposed method has the advantages of a better lightweight effect compared with the conventional one, which is demonstrated by a simple two-linkage robot lightweight design. Finally, the method is applied on a 5 degree of freedom upper-limb exoskeleton robot for lightweight design. Results show that there is a 10.4% reduction of the mass compared with the conventional method.