Design of two-degree-of-freedom spherical actuator with X-shaped yokes

With the advancement of the modern mechanical engineering industry, a robotic arm, or even a robot, has become a mature technology widely used in production and manufacturing. As the market gradually comes to life and the demand for robotic arm precision increases, the significance of this technology continues to grow. This study has proposed a multi-degree-of-freedom spherical voice coil actuator, which can be used at the end of the robot arm joint, robot eye, or a laser source to control its emission angle. As the key technology of the multi-degree-of-freedom actuator, the magnetic circuit design is the fundamental part of the actuator. Based on the basic theory of voice coil actuator, we design a two-degree-of-freedom spherical actuator in this study. It features a unique combination of X-shaped yokes and coils, providing a larger tilting angle compared to previously invented voice coil actuators. The design of the proposed actuator was modeled and evaluated using a finite element analysis software of ANSYS Maxwell. Through the simulation and mathematical modeling, the prototype was manufactured, and the torque was measured and compared to verify its feasibility and performance.