Development of Sensor-Less Power-Assisted System with Disturbance Observer Considering High Friction

Abstract

Japan has a dwindling birthrate and a rapidly aging population, which has led to an increasing number of elderly laborers. Although this has spurred development into power-assisted (PA) equipment that can reduce the physical demands, most of power assisted systems developed so far have used the force sensor, a direct drive motor, or a high power motor. The PA machine using force sensor is unable to detect and avoid obstacles that might collide with nonsensor components of the machine. The direct drive motor is too expensive for the practical use and its power tends to increase. According to Japanese law, a high power motor is not allowed to cooperate together with laborers in the factory. Thus, in this research, a sensor-less power-assisted (PA) system capable of estimating operator force based on a disturbance observer and friction correction is designed and built for a high friction production support device using a lowcapacity servo motor and a high-speed reduction ratio reducer. First, a dynamic model of a production support device is identified with specific friction parameters. Next, a sensor-less PA system is constructed that is equipped with an appropriate disturbance observer and dynamic friction correction. Moreover, the static friction issues are solved by the regular driving command. Finally, the accuracies of estimated force are examined, and the effectiveness of the constructed sensor-less PA system is verified.