Kinematics and Force Analysis of Flexible Screw Mechanism for a Worm Robot

This paper presents a new type of flexible screw mechanism (FSM), which is composed of a nut, flexible axle, and roller. It can be used in a worm robot to achieve flexible peristaltic motion, as well as curvilinear motion and deformation. This type of FSM uses a roller to decrease the friction. We investigated the transmission principle and the kinematic characteristics of this FSM, established the model of the velocity, acceleration of the roller, characterized the feed motion characteristics of the flexible shaft, and achieved an analytical solution of the flexible shaft's velocity. Furthermore, by considering the position of the pure rolling section of the roller, the spin slide model is proposed based on Hertz theory. To investigate the friction loss between the roller and the flexible axle, we established a friction work model of the entire FSM system. Finally, the motion characteristics of the FSM are evaluated through experiments.