Design and Preliminary Testing of a Magnetic Spring as an Energy-Storing System for Reduced Power Consumption of a Humanoid Arm

Abstract

The increasing use of robots in the industry, the growing energy prices, and higher environmental awareness have driven research to find new solutions for reducing energy consumption. In additional, in most robotic tasks, energy is used to overcome the forces of gravity, but in a few industrial applications, the force of gravity is used as a source of energy. For this reason, the use of magnetic springs with actuators may reduce the energy consumption of robots performing trajectories due their high-hardness magnetic properties of energy storage. Accordingly, this paper proposes a magnetic spring configuration as an energy-storing system for a two DoF humanoid arm. Thus, an integration of the magnetic spring system in the robot is described. A control strategy is proposed to enable autonomous use. In this paper, the proposed device is modeled and analyzed with simulations as: mechanical energy consumption and kinetic energy rotational and multibody dynamics. Furthermore, a prototype was manufactured and validated experimentally. A preliminary test to check the interaction between the magnetic spring system with the mechanism and the trajectory performance was carried out. Finally, an energy consumption comparison with and without the magnetic spring is also presented.

Rethinking Energy Conservation and Generation for Sustainable Solutions-An Innovative Energy Circuitry Approach

“…Present-day innovations sometimes display a concerning trend, where the practicality and scientific rigor of proposed solutions are increasingly overlooked. Instead, many recent endeavors rely on the idea of bypassing laws without substantial scientific or mathematical support [11,12,[14][15][16]23,24]. It is vital to consider that these limitations and misconceptions can be attributed to the absence of a rigorous mathematical and scientifically valid proof concerning the validity of the law of energy conservation and its practical limitations as provided in [42].…”

“…During OFF time (𝑻 𝒐𝒇𝒇 ≤ 𝒕 < 𝑻): The voltage across the inductor (𝑉𝐿) is equal to the output voltage (𝑉 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ), a situation expressible according to equation (15).…”

“…Applying equation (15) to equation (12) we obtain; 𝐿 𝑑𝐼 𝐿 𝑑𝑡 = −𝑉 𝑜𝑢𝑡 which on rearranging becomes equation (16).…”

Rethinking Energy Conservation and Generation for Sustainable Solutions-An Innovative Energy Circuitry Approach

“…With dwindling fossil fuel reserves, environmental degradation, and a burgeoning global population, the quest for sustainable and abundant energy sources has never been more critical [8][9][10]. The potential disruption of the law of energy conservation within classical settings offers a promising avenue to tackle myriad societal challenges, from alleviating the energy crisis to reducing noise pollution from fossil fuel consumption, curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and advancing knowledge in physics and engineering [8], [18][19][20][21][22]. However, recent efforts in this direction have become entangled in a web of misconceptions, ranging from the unsupported claims of perpetual motion machines (PMMs) capable of generating infinite energy [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] to the assertion that creating energy within a classical closed system is fundamentally impossible [8], [18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…The potential disruption of the law of energy conservation within classical settings offers a promising avenue to tackle myriad societal challenges, from alleviating the energy crisis to reducing noise pollution from fossil fuel consumption, curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and advancing knowledge in physics and engineering [8], [18][19][20][21][22]. However, recent efforts in this direction have become entangled in a web of misconceptions, ranging from the unsupported claims of perpetual motion machines (PMMs) capable of generating infinite energy [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] to the assertion that creating energy within a classical closed system is fundamentally impossible [8], [18][19][20][21][22]. These misconceptions, often grounded in conventional scientific beliefs, have constrained exploration in the search for innovative energy solutions.…”