Paper
23 March 2011 Directional control valve with the ability to "dangle"
Michael Meller, Rashi Tiwari, Ephrahim Garcia
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
The majority of double-acting hydraulic cylinders are controlled via a 4/3 spool valve, which allows for the active movement of the cylinder in two directions, as well as holding its current position. These control valves lack the ability to "dangle," or rather, the ability to permit the hydraulic cylinder to freely sway passively in response to external forces. Including the ability to dangle within a control valve is of particular interest for a number of reasons. It allows for much more naturalistic actuation of the hydraulic cylinder, making it further compatible with bio-inspired platforms, such as driving the legs of a prosthetic limb or an exoskeleton for human augmentation. Additionally, dangle offers an opportunity for considerable efficiency gains. This is possible because the momentum of the load, gravity, among other external forces, can be utilized to move the actuator instead of solely relying on an active input. A novel control valve that integrates all of the features of a 4/3 spool valve in addition to dangle is reported herein.
© (2011) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Michael Meller, Rashi Tiwari, and Ephrahim Garcia "Directional control valve with the ability to "dangle"", Proc. SPIE 7975, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication, 79750X (23 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.880693
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Actuators

Gait analysis

Control systems

Biomimetics

Intelligence systems

Analytical research

Argon

Back to Top