Design, Modeling, and Kinematics Analysis of a Modular Cable-Driven Manipulator

Abstract

Modular manipulators have broad application prospects in the field of narrow confined space owing to their characteristics of superior dexterity. However, compared with traditional ones, their mechanism design, modeling and inverse kinematics (IK) are challenging due to their special structures and redundant degrees of freedom. In this paper, a modular cable-driven manipulator (CDM) is designed. A lightweight and expandable structure is proposed to reduce weight of the whole manipulator and improve its environmental adaptability. To calibrate its global posture, angle sensors are equipped with its joints. Its kinematics are rigorously analyzed. To obtain the IK of a hyper-redundant CDM in real-time, a fast heuristic method with adaptive joint constraints is introduced. Then, a segmented IK strategy is proposed by extending the IK solver to local CDM, which realizes the local joint migration motion under the stable overall configuration. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted and a physical prototype is developed to carry out experiments. The results show that the designed CDM has great performance in dexterity and accuracy.

A nine-degree-of-freedom modular redundant robotic manipulator: Development and experimentation

“…4 Generally, redundant manipulators can be divided into articulated multi-section structures and continuum structures according to their structural characteristics. The cable-driven redundant manipulators are a typical kind of continuous redundant manipulators, which usually have slender bodies and huge drives, 5 and they are suitable for exploration in narrow environments. 1,6,7 There are other types of continuous manipulators, such as Saab et al 8 designed a novel space articulated robot, which realizes the movement of the manipulator through gears and braided nylon cables.…”