Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090013771 | Texture measuring apparatus and method - A texture measuring apparatus that measures surface information of an object includes: a probe coming into contact with the object while moving on a surface of the object; a first sensor unit, provided at the probe, for detecting a force acting on the probe in a direction perpendicular to a lengthwise direction of the probe; and a second sensor unit, provided at the rear of the probe, for detecting a force acting on the probe in the lengthwise direction of the probe. The apparatus further includes a third sensor unit, provided between the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit, for detecting variations in the forces acting on the probe. | 01-15-2009 |
20100073151 | Tactile Display Apparatus and Method Thereof - A tactile display apparatus includes a plurality of stimulation pins in contact with a skin; an operating unit for vertically moving the stimulation pins; and a housing accommodating the stimulation pins and the operating unit, the housing having an opening in one surface thereof such that the stimulation pins protrude outward. Here, the plurality of stimulation pins are arranged such that a contact area occupied by front ends of the stimulation pins is smaller than an area occupied by rear ends of the stimulation pins. | 03-25-2010 |
20100192719 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING STIFFNESS AND JOINT OF ROBOT MANIPULATOR COMPRISING THE SAME - The present invention provides a device for generating and varying stiffness, which may be applied to a joint of a robot manipulator. The stiffness generating device of the present invention, comprises: a rotating shaft connected to a driven member; a rotor fixed to the rotating shaft and having arms comprising a magnetic element; a stator disposed to surround the rotor outside the arms and being connected to a drive motor; electromagnets fixed to an inner periphery of the stator and being opposed to each other about the rotating shaft, each having a core and a coil wound around the core; and means for applying current to the coils. One half of the electromagnets has N-poles at their inward ends and the other half of the electromagnets has S-poles at their inward ends. Current regulating means regulates the current being applied to the coils. | 08-05-2010 |
20100326227 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING STIFFNESS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STIFFNESS AND JOINT OF ROBOT MANIPULATOR COMPRISING THE SAME - The present invention relates to a device for generating stiffness and a method for controlling stiffness, which can generate stiffness by using elastic members and can control the stiffness, and a joint of a robot manipulator to which the device and method can be applied. The device for generating stiffness includes a rotating shaft; a plurality of elastic members fixed to the rotating shaft; upper and lower circular plates that are disposed so as to be spaced from each other with the elastic members interposed therebetween, are independently driven with respect to the rotating shaft by power generating units thereof, respectively, and respectively have slits of which the number is equal to the number of the elastic members; and a plurality of moving members that are inserted into the slits formed in the upper and lower circular plates, respectively, and are connected to the elastic members so as to move. | 12-30-2010 |
20110018696 | Vibrotactile Device and Method Using the Same - Disclosed herein is a vibrotactile device intuitively providing information by inducing a tactile sense to a user, and a method using the same. The device according to an embodiment includes a vibrating contact panel contacting with a user's hand; a plurality of vibratory modules that are attached to the lower part of the vibrating contact panel and vibrate with different intensities according to the amount of supplied power; and a plurality of vibration isolating links that are coupled, respectively, to an end of each of the modules to support the modules and to isolate the vibration from the modules. | 01-27-2011 |
20110081976 | DEVICE FOR GENRATING LIMIT TORQUE AND ROTATING DEVICE USING THE SAME - The present invention relates to a device for generating limit torque, which generates a rotational displacement to protect a rotating device and automatically returns to the initial position when an external force is eliminated, and a rotating device using the same. The device includes a flexible member that is vertically connected to a rotating shaft and of which the length can be varied in an inward and outward direction with respect to the rotating shaft; an elastic member that is connected to the flexible member and causes the flexible member to receive an elastic force in the outward direction with respect to the rotating shaft; and a cam member that is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft and delivers a rotating force of the rotating shaft to a rotating member. The cam member has a through-hole in which a rotational displacement is generated and through which the flexible member returns to the initial position. According to the present invention, the device for generating limit torque can generate limit torque with a relatively simple structure, and can secure stability. | 04-07-2011 |
20110163860 | Apparatus and Method for Vibrotactile Mobile Device - This disclosure relates to a vibrotactile mobile device which induces a tactile sense at various positions in an interface method of operating the mobile device so that a user may intuitively interact with the mobile device while seeing a program execution status, and to a method of driving the vibrotactile mobile device. The method of driving the vibrotactile mobile device includes: providing a user interface for inputting a command signal on a screen operated in accordance with a program; calculating a target vibration position and a direction and a speed of a vibration flow with time so as to recognize a trajectory of the command signal displayed on the screen and supply a vibration stimulus corresponding to the trajectory of the command signal; and driving the vibration module by controlling a supply of power to be applied to vibration modules based on the calculated result. | 07-07-2011 |
20110271784 | WEIGHT COMPENSATION MECHANISM AND METHOD USING BEVEL GEAR AND ROBOT ARM USING THE SAME - Disclosed herein is a weight compensation mechanism. A weight compensation mechanism is installed in a link member rotatable in a plurality of directions. The weight compensation mechanism includes a plurality of bevel gears that rotates in harmony with the rotation of the link member. Cam plates are connected to one or more of the bevel gears to be rotated together with the bevel gears. Weight offsetting parts are connected to the cam plates, respectively, and each of the weight offsetting parts compresses an elastic member based on the rotation of the link member and the cam plate to absorb gravitation generated by the weight of the link member. | 11-10-2011 |
20120013745 | INFRARED SENSOR AND SENSING METHOD USING THE SAME - Disclosed herein are an infrared (IR) sensor and a sensing method using the same, in which disturbance by an external luminous object is removed using the IR sensor that irradiates IR light into a sensing area to sense an object, so that the position or distance of the object can be precisely and accurately sensed. An IR sensor includes an illumination unit that irradiates IR light into a sensing area; an image pickup device that obtains an IR image in the sensing area by sensing the IR light incident from the sensing area; and a control unit that controls the emission time at which the illumination unit irradiates the IR light and the pickup time of the image pickup device. In the IR sensor, the control unit includes an illumination controller that controls the emission time of the illumination unit; an image pickup device controller that controls the pickup time of the image pickup device; a memory that stores the IR image obtained by the image pickup device; and an image processor that calculates the position or distance of the object in the sensing area by performing comparison operation processing with respect to an IR image obtained when the illumination unit irradiates the IR light and an IR image obtained when the illumination unit does not irradiate the IR light in the IR images stored in the memory. | 01-19-2012 |
20120229789 | OPTICAL SENSOR AND SENSING METHOD USING THE SAME - The optical sensor according to an embodiment disclosed herein includes: a lighting unit; a color photographing element for obtaining a color image in the sensing region; a photographing control unit for controlling a light irradiating time; a memory unit for storing a color image and a resultant image; a measurement light image extracting unit for processing the color image or the resultant image; a distance calculating unit for calculating distance or location information of the object; and a color correcting unit for calculating corrected distance or location information of the object. | 09-13-2012 |
20120291582 | WEIGHT COMPENSATION MECHANISM AND ROBOT ARM USING THE SAME - The present invention discloses a weight compensation mechanism installed at a rotatable three-degree-of-freedom link member, wherein a first rotation of the link member is a yaw rotation aligned with the direction of the gravity and second and third rotations of the link member are respectively a roll rotation and a pitch rotation, wherein the second and third rotations are restrained by a plurality of differential bevel gears, and wherein a pair of cam plates is fixed to shafts of a pair of rotary bevel gears in the plurality of differential bevel gears, and a one-degree-of-freedom weight compensator is provided to be connected to the cam plates. | 11-22-2012 |
20130093703 | TACTILE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM USING GLOVE TYPE ACTUATOR DEVICE AND METHOD THEREOF - The present invention relates to a tactile transmission system using a glove type actuator device and a method thereof, and more particularly to a tactile transmission system using a glove type actuator device and a method thereof with which a user can cover his hand and which can directly transmit a movement according to a voltage level to a body part of the user through a piezo disk actuator attached to a position in which a stimulus is transmitted. The tactile transmission system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a touch screen for driving a predetermined program; and a glove type actuator device for vibrating a part which comes in contact with the touch screen to provide curve information about a surface of an object on the program to be displayed on the touch screen. The glove type actuator device comprises: one or more actuator modules for providing vibration stimuli; a three-axis acceleration sensor for sensing positions of the actuator modules; and a controller for mapping the position information sensed by the three-axis acceleration sensor to a corresponding position on the touch screen and generating a driving signal to vibrate the actuator modules according to the curve information about the surface of the object corresponding to the mapped position. | 04-18-2013 |
20130140611 | PRESSURE SENSOR HAVING NANOSTRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - The present disclosure relates to a pressure sensor having a nanostructure and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, it relates to a pressure sensor having a nanostructure attached on the surface of the pressure sensor and thus having improved sensor response time and sensitivity and a method for manufacturing the same. The pressure sensor according to the present disclosure having a nanostructure includes: a substrate; a source electrode and a drain electrode arranged on the substrate with a predetermined spacing; a flexible sensor layer disposed on the source electrode and the drain electrode; and a nanostructure attached on the surface of the flexible sensor layer and having nanosized wrinkles. | 06-06-2013 |
20130180353 | ROBOT ARM HAVING A WEIGHT COMPENSATION MECHANISM - The robot arm having a weight compensation mechanism has a first rotation member and a second rotation member which are respectively capable of making two-DOF rotation, a first rotation of the first rotation member is yaw rotation, and a second rotation of the first rotation member is pitch rotation perpendicular to the first rotation, a third rotation and a fourth rotation of the second rotation member are respectively pitch rotation and roll rotation, and the robot arm comprises a single-DOF gravity compensator connected to the first rotation member or the second rotation member and offsetting the gravity caused by weight of the first rotation member or the second rotation member by using an elastic force of an elastic member. | 07-18-2013 |
20130206535 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING LIMIT TORQUE WITH FUNCTION OF YIELDING TORQUE CHANGE IN REAL TIME - A device for generating limit torque with a function of yielding a torque change in real time includes a spring, a rotating portion having a cam surface formed therein, a transmitting portion transmitting an elastic force of the spring to the cam surface, a fixed portion with respect to which the relative rotation of the rotating portion is generated, and a limit-torque control portion provided to the fixed portion so as to control limit torque of the rotating portion by adjusting the elastic force of the spring. In the device, the limit-torque control portion controls the limit torque of the spring by changing the elastic force of the spring in real time. | 08-15-2013 |
20140039387 | GUIDE TUBE FOR MICROSURGICAL INSTRUMENTS - A guide tube for microsurgical instruments has a linear tube having a hollow formed in the length direction thereof, a curved tube mounted to the front end of the linear tube and having unit bodies connected to allow bending, an elastic body for giving an elastic force so that a gap between the unit bodies increases, and a tension control unit mounted to the rear end of the linear tube to bend the curved tube by controlling tensions of a plurality of wires extending from the curved tube, wherein the tension control unit controls the tensions of the wires in a state where the curved tube is curved so that the rigidity of the curved tube increases to support a surgical instrument located in the linear tube and the curved tube. | 02-06-2014 |
20140309587 | TUBE CONTINUUM ROBOT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TUBE HAVING ANISOTROPIC PATTERNS - Disclosed herein are a tube continuum robot and a method for manufacturing a tube. More particularly, disclosed are a tube continuum robot and a method for manufacturing a tube, which is used in the tube continuum robot having a plurality of overlapping tubes and has anisotropic patterns for controlling the bending rigidity and torsional rigidity of the tube. In an embodiment, a tube continuum robot has a plurality of overlapping tubes, one or more of the plurality of overlapping tubes having a curved shape, wherein a plurality of anisotropic patterns are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the one or more tubes along the lengthwise or circumferential direction of the tubes. | 10-16-2014 |
20150032117 | TUBE INSERTION DEVICE HAVING END EFFECTOR CAPABLE OF CHANGING DIRECTION - A tube insertion device which inserts a tube into a line path to perform an operation has an elongated hollow tube, an end effector connected to a front end of the tube such that the direction of the end effector is changed with respect to the tube, a plurality of wires connected to the end effector and extended into the tube and a tension controller controlling tensions of the plurality of wires. The tension controller controls tensions of a pair of wires facing each other in the opposite directions, in order to change the direction of the end effector. | 01-29-2015 |