Modular System for Teaching Kinematics Control of Robot Manipulators

Abstract

One of the main drawbacks for teaching kinematics of robot manipulators is the cost of the experimental platform, which has to be composed by robot manipulators of different structures. In this work, a modular system for experimentation of manipulators kinematics is presented. The system consists of rotational and translational modules. Each module is a robotic link with one controlled degree of freedom. The modules can be linked together by a simple fixture, such that, the actuator of a module is attached to a fixed point of the previous one, forming the open chain structure. Up to three modules can be chained together, producing a 3 DOF manipulator. The appropriate electronics were developed for control and communication of the modules with a computer, via the serial or the USB port. A software program, with basic synchronized control capabilities, completes the system, enabling the execution of joint trajectories. The system is complemented with additional modules for construction of sub-actuated robots.