Development of a head massage robot

• Main Author: Woo, Weng Chun.
• Other Authors: Phee Soo Jay, Louis
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Robots
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/17097
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The development of several massage devices available previously are mainly focused on the mechanical mechanisms such as vibrators and rollers. A recently developed head massager functions using compressible pneumatic pressures to deliver the massage to eliminate the accumulated stresses and pains. Taking the inspiration from the availability of market products, it motivates the author to develop a head massage robot equipped with robotic fingers, which are able to imitate the massage given by an actual masseur/masseus. The objective is to deliver a real human-like massage to challenge current mechanical massage devices. Several conceptual designs have been proposed upon the finalization of prototype design. Through morphological analysis and conceptual designs evaluation, the author has chosen the best design of the head massage robot. A number of essential theories and basic calculations such as Direct/Inverse Kinematics, Degree of Freedom (DOF) of Planar 5-bar Linkages, Working Envelope of Planar 5-bar Linkages and, different scenarios of Structural Beam Deflection, were applied to the final design of the head massage robot. The developed “finger” robot is equipped with two high torque manipulators, and an end effector attached to the end of a robotic finger. It is controlled by the Galil Motion Controller in conjunction with Microsoft Visual C/C++ platform. Based on the experimental results, it is proven that the “finger” is able to replicate the trajectories supplied by the user. The next challenge would be to integrate multiple “finger” robots together to form a head massage robot which is capable of delivering an effective head massage to its user.