New industrial revolution - “The 4th industrial revolution” must be a remarkable milestone for the second decade of the twenty-first century. Many countries are competing to innovate their manufacturing chains for eco-friendly and energy-efficient productions. Although this green or sustainable manufacturing system evolves under the support of cyber-physical system (or digital twin) based on ICT technology, industrial robots also play important roles in this speedy, flexible and effective manufacturing chains. Recently, low-cost industrial robots or collaborative robots, are rising in a highly interactive environment with humans. Although an industrial robot consists of many important components such as mechanical parts (kinematic structure and reducer) and electric parts (servo motor, driver, sensors, and controller), precision reducer takes approximately 25% of material-cost and governs important performance indices of industrial robots. This paper presents review of high precision reducers (HPRs) for industrial robots driving 4th industrial revolution. First, we provide HPRs market along with industrial robots. According to previous studies, HPRs for industrial robots can be classified based on their principles: planetary reducer, cycloid reducer, and harmonic drive (HD). Then, principle, characteristics, and three main performances (hysteresis, rotational transmission error (RTE) and efficiency) of HPRs are discussed. In addition, compensation methods overcoming accuracy limits of HPRs are summarized. Finally, other applications of HPRs except industrial robots are presented.

High Precision Reducers for Industrial Robots Driving 4th Industrial Revolution: State of Arts, Analysis, Design, Performance Evaluation and Perspective

Cycloid drives are compact, efficient speed reducers. In this paper, a unified set of equations is presented to optimize their design. The conceptual framework and profile design are described. Sources and effects of tolerance are then introduced, including profile reduction, backlash and torque ripple, and maximum gear-ratio. Equations for stress, efficiency, and moment of inertia are provided.

Unified Approach to Cycloid Drive Profile, Stress, and Efficiency Optimization

A new design of a two-stage cycloidal speed reducer is presented in this paper. A traditional two-stage cycloidal speed reducer is obtained by the simple combination of singlestage cycloidal speed reducers. A single-stage reducer engages two identical cycloid discs in order to balance dynamical loads and to obtain uniform load distribution. Consequently, the traditional two-stage reducer has four cycloid discs, in total. The newly designed two-stage cycloidal speed reducer, presented in this paper, has one cycloid disc for each stage, that is, two cycloid discs in total, which means that it is rather compact. Due to its specific concept, this reducer is characterized by good load distribution and dynamic balance, and this is described in the paper. Stress state analysis of cycloidal speed reducer elements was also realized, using the finite elements method (FEM), for the most critical cases of conjugate gear action (one, two, or three pairs of teeth in contact). The results showed that cycloid discs are rather uniformly loaded, justifying the design solution presented here. Experimental analysis of the stress state for cycloid discs was realized, using the strain gauges method. It is easy to conclude, based on the obtained results, that even for the most critical case (one pair of teeth in contact) stresses on cycloid discs are in the allowed limits, thus providing normal functioning of the reducer for its anticipated lifetime. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4004540]

A New Design of a Two-Stage Cycloidal Speed Reducer

Design of a two-stage cycloidal gear reducer with tooth modifications

Nowadays, the basic requirements of gear transmissions are not limited to resistance and reliability, but often include good efficiency and low vibration and noise emissions. This article i...

The effects of the shape of tooth profile modifications on the transmission error, bending, and contact stress of spur gears:

Compared with common speed reducers, the cycloidal ones (also known as cycloid drives) cover a wider range of transmission ratios, have a higher load-carrying capacity, are smaller, exhibit a smoother running and a good efficiency. These characteristics make them attractive for industrial applications, especially for robotics applications, machine tools and linear axis positioning in assembly machinery. In this paper, a theoretical and experimental investigation on an innovative cycloidal speed reducer will be presented. The typical cycloid drive has a planet wheel, the profile of which is the inner offset of an epitrochoid, meshing with cylindrical rollers connected to the case. This reducer, on the contrary, has an external ring gear, the transverse profile of which is the external offset of an epitrochoid, and engages with the planet wheel by means of cylindrical rollers. This paper will investigate the structural characteristics and the kinematical principles of this type of reducer. A theoretical approach based on the envelope theory (following Litvin’s approach) will be developed and compared with a development of Blanche and Yang’s approach. Furthermore, a simplified procedure to calculate force distribution on cycloid drive elements, as well as its power losses and theoretical mechanical efficiency will be presented. The effects of design parameters on the values of the forces will be studied, for an optimal design of this type of reducer. The theoretical model will be then tuned using the results of tests on a specific rig. As a result of the experimental tests, the reducer mechanical efficiency dependency on speed and torque will be described. The aim of this work is to perform the fine tuning of a theoretical model in order to predict the operating behavior of the cycloid drive, and to improve its design procedure.Copyright © 2007 by ASME

C. Longoni

Papers

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of a Cycloidal Speed Reducer

Bending fatigue resistance of case hardened and nitrided gears