KINEMATIC SYNTHESIS OF TENDON-DRIVEN MANIPULATORS WITH ISOTROPIC TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS

This paper presents a methodology for kinematic synthesis of tendon-dr iven manipulators with isotropic transmission characteristics. The for ce transmission characteristics, from the end-effector space to the ac tuator space, has been investigated. It is shown that tendon forces re quired to act against externally applied forces are functions of the s tructure matrix, its null vector, and the manipulator Jacobian matrix. Design equations for synthesizing a manipulator to possess isotropic transmission characteristics are derived. It is shown that manipulator s which possess isotropic transmission characteristics have much bette r force distribution among their tendons.