Placing the Kinematic Behavior of a General Serial 6R Manipulator by Varying its Structural Parameters

Serial manipulators are most flexible when they have a general structure and a modular design. In such a case almost no limits to a robot designer are set. However, this high variability leads to a complex design problem on the basis of the purpose of the robot that should be achieved. In this paper we present a method to counter this problem by using a robot with known properties and adapt its structure according to a given task without changing its kinematic behavior. This means, a known behavior of a robot is transferred to a desired region in the workspace. Allowed adaptions within the geometric structure of modular robot are identified and are realized by suitable links of the manipulator. With this method, design parameters of the system are given, which makes it possible to apply a known kinematic property to an arbitrary end effector position and one system inherent direction. The feasibility of the method is shown by a simulated 6-DoF Cuma-type robot.

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