A review of compliant mechanisms for contact robotics applications

Abstract

The challenge of effectively interacting with the environment is a huge obstacle in robotics that needs more attention and innovation. Contact missions, in particular, provide inherent challenges such as adaptability to dynamic environments and ensuring safe and reliable operation. Incorporating compliance into robots is a viable approach to address these challenges, and various methods for doing this are explored in detail in this review. Using compliant mechanisms (CM) is a method that offer a promising solution by providing inherent flexibility and compliance, enabling robots to interact with their environment more effectively. This article provides a comprehensive review on the role of compliant mechanisms in contact robotic applications. It also analyzes several types of these mechanisms, their design approaches, as well as modeling and control strategies.