Modeling and stiffness evaluation of tendon-driven robot for collaborative human-robot interaction

This paper presents a clear and detailed mathematical analysis of the stiffness evaluation of tendon-driven serial kinematic chains which allow single-point and multi-point routing with bundling per rigid link. The kinematic analysis of tendon driven serial chain with cable routing between links, re-routing within links and bundling is presented. Targeting a musculoskeletal two-link system with different tendon arrangements as a case study, the stiffness of each system is evaluated using a stiffness ellipse. The stiffness performance is analyzed to provide a holistic overview of passive stiffness and force production capabilities that have a pivotal role in the rehabilitation paradigm and human robot-interaction.