A biomimetic chewing robot of redundantly actuated parallel mechanism

Purpose – This paper aims to describe how a novel biomimetic chewing robot was designed, including its motion, force, control and mechanical designs, and shows some initial experiments about motion tracking. Design/methodology/approach – According to the biomechanics, the authors modeled the muscles of mastication in six linkages and the temporomandibular joint in higher kinematic pairs of point contact. As a result, the chewing robot was represented in a redundantly actuated parallel mechanism. With reference to literature data on the biological system, the authors specified the motion and force requirements for the robot via inverse kinematics and force analysis. A prototype of the robot was built, which has a position control system and is driven by six linear actuators. Experiments were conducted to show the capability of the robot in reproducing the human chewing motion. Findings – A chewing robot was successfully modeled and developed, which is able to simulate the motion of human mastication in a biologically faithful way. Practical implications – The chewing robot as a scientific instrument can be used to test dental materials and evaluate food textural properties of chewing. Originality/value – Two higher kinematic pairs of point contact are proposed to simulate the two temporomandibular joints. The mechanism of the novel chewing robot is the first of this kind, which has two higher kinematic pairs of point contact and is a redundantly actuated spatial parallel mechanism.