New Design for Magnetorheological (MR) Brake

Unmet Need: MR Brakes with Low Off-State Friction

MR brakes are viable options for implementations in robotics and haptics since they have large force-to-volume ratios. Such applications require MR brakes that are capable of high force output with compact size. Existing linear MR brakes have limited strokes, are relatively large, and have high off-state friction forces mainly due to the piston-cylinder internal design.

The Technology: Alternate new Interior Design for Linear MR Brakes

Researchers at WSU have developed a new alternative internal design for linear magnetorheological brakes. It leads to significantly less off-state friction and infinite stroke. The design uses the serpentine flux path concept to eliminate the piston-cylinder arrangement.

Applications:

• Robotics and Haptics.

• Automobile industry.

Advantages:

• Shown to produce 173N force as compared to 27-N force produced by the conventional MR brake of same size.

• Significantly less off-state friction and infinite stroke

• Compact size.

Patent Information:

Issued US Application # 9,109,650