KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF GEARED ROBOT MANIPULATORS BY THE CONCEPT OF STRUCTURAL DECOMPOSITION

A new and systematic methodology for the kinematic analysis of geared robot manipulators is presented. It is shown that, by decomposing the mechanical transmission lines as an input unit and several transmissio n units connected in series, the kinematic relation between the local input and output links of each unit can be systematically formulated. Besides, angular displacements of the connecting links, with respect t o its associated primary link, can be symbolically derived in terms of joint angles by a unit-by-unit evaluation procedure. This unit-by-uni t evaluation procedure provides a better insight of the effects of the input and transmission units on the torque and leads to an automated derivation of the kinematic relations without the need to solve a set of linear equations simultaneously. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.