MECHANICAL DESIGN AND LAYOUT

2017 Max Donath

 What is the impact of good design?

Consider the Staubli TP80 Fast Picker robot, a robot with

sustained 200 picks per minute (ppm) capability. See
http://www.staubli.com/en/robotics/6-axis-scara-industrial-robot/low-payload-6-axis-scara-
robot/fast-picker-tp80/

For video (if Staubli link is broken), see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em7C1SlqId8

*For a specific configuration.

For more info on the International Protection (IP) Code, see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code
Consider the Kuka arm catching flying objects:

http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/182244-worlds-fastest-robot-arm-has-a-50ms-reaction-time

and

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/epfl-fast-robot-arm-catches-flying-objects
(May, 2014)

For range of Kuka arms, see

https://www.kuka.com/en-de/products/robot-systems/industrial-robots/

The robot arm used in the above demonstration is the LBR-IIWA,

which can be found at:

https://www.kuka.com/en-de/products/robot-systems/industrial-robots/lbr-iiwa

But need fast tracking in full 6 DOF space. See

http://optitrack.com
and
http://optitrack.com/motion-capture-robotics/

Typical hardware: Prime 17W for $3,499 (2017)

http://optitrack.com/products/prime-17w/

One of several tracking products from NaturalPoint (Corvallis, OR)

https://www.naturalpoint.com
VELOCITY AND PATH CONTROL
VELOCITY CONTROL

We not only wish to control position and orientation

of the hand, but also its velocity

This requires the specification of a velocity vector

- 3 linear & 3 rotational motions for the hand

which must be related to the manipulator joint velocities

 We know that the position and orientation of the hand is a
function of the joint variables

By taking derivatives, we can calculate the six element vector x

representing the command rates along the hand axes

After calculating J, we can derive the joint angular velocities

Velocities as
Commercial manipulators are designed based on
small positional changes, thus many terms in J
simplify dramatically

However

J may not have an inverse for various positions of

the manipulator (I.E. J is singular and its
determinant is equal to zero)

This is equivalent to one or more joints moving at

infinite velocity

Physical significance?
Solutions to singularity problem:

Add an intermediate point

(Position and orientation)

Add a degree of freedom

(The human arm can be considered to have at
least 7 D.O.F when it should only need six)

New problem: Must specify extra D.O.F

 Coordinated motion for path control

For coordination, ensure that all joints start

and stop motion simultaneously
For point-to-point control:
vJoints must move at different angular
velocities
vCoordinate all joints to the slowest
joint by rate interpolation
Problem: Using only the end positions of a
motion as constraints results in unpredictable
end effector motion
Solution: Control path of end effector by
interpolating in world (Cartesian) coordinates
 Manipulator Motion

Motion requires changes in joint angles:

JT0 = 90
JT1 = 45
JT2 = -45
 Interpolated Path
(All joints start/stop simultaneously)
 Path Control

Straight line path

(All joints start/stop simultaneously)
 Need to program via points
to control path and speed up motion
Computation of the Jacobian