Slip Modeling and Simulation of Spiral Zipper Friction-Driven Prismatic Actuator

Abstract

In this study, based on an analysis of experimental results, we propose a method for slip modeling of Spiral Zipper. The Spiral Zipper is a prismatic actuator that extracts a length-changeable cylindrical tube from a flexible ABS band. The band tube is driven by a friction wheel; the slip results due to the lack of synchronization between the motion of the band and that of the friction wheel. Through experiments, we verify that the flexibility of the band causes an impact force between the band and the friction wheel. Additionally, we verify that the tube extraction process causes resistance, which contributes to the increase in the relative angular velocity. Considering the factors mentioned above, we develop a slip model by employing different numbers of contact patches that express the flexibility of the band. Subsequently, we validate the model’s performance through simulations. In addition, we propose a coefficients standardization method for obtaining similar results with different number of contact patches We expect that this study will be a basis for design optimization and control system development of the Spiral Zipper.