A novel modular strategy for the fabrication of robotic manipulators based upon task-based designs

Abstract

A modular fabrication strategy for the development of customized robotic arms is proposed in this paper. With increasing variety in robotic applications, the concept of task-based customized design is expected to play a big role in deployment of robotic arms for the required jobs. Many manipulator design strategies have been presented. However, there remains a challenge of fabricating the manipulators – possessing the configurations and the parameters resulting out of the design process. This paper presents a strategy for modular development of arms. The novelty of the strategy lies in the aspect that the modules possess adaptable robotic parameters – to adjust the size and connecting angles of the modules according to the requirement. Given the degrees of freedom of the manipulator and the link and the joint parameters (D-H parameters in this paper), the modules are configured and assembled to develop the required manipulator. Assemblies of the modules for two standard configurations are presented in this paper to demonstrate the proposed strategy.