The Improved DLR Wrist: Design and Analysis of 2-Degrees-of-Freedom Rotational Mechanism Using Spatial Antiparallelogram Linkages

This article presents a kinematic analysis and modification of a wrist mechanism of the DLR robot arm, which is based on antiparallelogram linkages. This mechanism is modified to improve the range of motion (ROM), to reduce the parasitic motion, and to approximately perform the decoupled output motion. For these purposes, the elliptical rolling motion of an overconstrained antiparallelogram is first investigated in consideration of its structural modification. Also, a specific joint that has a relatively small movement is developed as a flexible hinge by further minimizing its angular displacement for design simplification. The axode analysis of the instantaneous screw axis for wrist movements is conducted to compare the rotational performance between the original and modified mechanisms. Moreover, their workspace qualities are evaluated through analyses of the workspace and the kinematic isotropy index. Finally, the improved DLR wrist of the final modification is prototyped, and its wide circumduction is demonstrated.

A generalized method for three-dimensional dynamic analysis of a full-vehicle model

Dynamic performances of the vehicle are significantly influenced by the suspension mechanisms. An understanding of the effects of the suspension kinematics and statics (or, briefly, kinestatics) is crucial to improve the dynamic performances of a vehicle. However, the suspension kinestatics is often neglected in the dynamic analysis. This paper presents a generalized full-vehicle model for the three-dimensional dynamic analysis, which consists of two pairs of the front and rear spatial suspension mechanisms. Each suspension is represented by a corresponding instantaneous screw joint supporting the vehicle body at any instant. The full-vehicle model is viewed to be a 6-degree-of-freedom spatial parallel mechanism. As the spatial parallel mechanism, the kinematics and statics of the full-vehicle model are analysed using the theory of screws. Taking the suspension kinestatics and tyre dynamics into consideration, the dynamic equations of the full-vehicle model are formulated in terms of the Lagrangian equations. As immediate applications, the dynamic behaviours of a vehicle are simulated and evaluated under two different road disturbances, respectively. By comparing with the simulation results from two other widely used methods, it confirms the validity of the theoretical method.

Jacobian approach to the kinestatic analysis of a full vehicle model with application to cornering motion analysis

The Jacobian approach to the kinestatic analysis of a planar suspension mechanism has been previously presented. In this paper, the theory is extended to three-dimensional kinestatic analysis by developing a full kinematic model and viewing it as a spatial parallel mechanism. The full kinematic model consists of two pairs of the front (double wishbone) and rear (multi-link) suspension mechanisms together with a newly developed ground-wheel contact model. The motion of each wheel of four suspension mechanisms is represented by the corresponding instantaneous screw at any instant. A vehicle is considered to be a 6-degrees-of-freedom spatial parallel mechanism whose vehicle body is supported by four serial kinematic chains. Each kinematic chain consists of a virtual instantaneous screw joint and a kinematic pair representing ground-wheel contact model. The kinestatic equation of the 6-degrees-of-freedom spatial parallel mechanism is derived in terms of the Jacobian. As an important application, a cornering motion of a vehicle is analysed under the assumption of steady-state cornering. A numerical example is presented to illustrate how to determine the optimal locations of strut springs for the least roll angle in cornering motion using the proposed method.

A general method for the determination of the instantaneous screw axes of one-degree-of-freedom spatial mechanisms

This contribution shows that a method proposed previously, for the determination of the instantaneous centers of rotation of planar closed chains, can be generalized for the determination of the instantaneous screw axes of general one-degree-of-freedom spatial mechanisms. Hence, the approach presented in this paper can be applied to any of the closed chains that belong to any of the subgroups of the Euclidean group, SE(3), namely planar, spherical or chains associated with the Schönflies subgroups, among others. Furthermore it can be also applied to multi-loop mechanisms and even to closed chains that are exceptional o paradoxical, as indicated by Hervé.

Estimating the Instantaneous Screw Axis and the Screw Axis Invariant Descriptor of Motion by Means of Inertial Sensors: An Experimental Study with a Mechanical Hinge Joint and Comparison to the Optoelectronic System

The motion of a rigid body can be represented by the instantaneous screw axis (ISA, also known as the helical axis). Recently, an invariant representation of motion based on the ISA, namely, the screw axis invariant descriptor (SAID), was proposed in the literature. The SAID consists of six scalar features that are independent from the coordinate system chosen to represent the motion. This method proved its usefulness in robotics; however, a high sensitivity to noise was observed. This paper aims to explore the performance of inertial sensors for the estimation of the ISA and the SAID for a simple experimental setup based on a hinge joint. The free swing motion of the mechanical hinge was concurrently recorded by a marker-based optoelectronic system (OS) and two magnetic inertial measurement units (MIMUs). The ISA estimated by the MIMU was more precise, while the OS was more accurate. The mean angular error was ≈2.2° for the OS and was ≈4.4° for the MIMU, while the mean standard deviation was ≈2.3° for the OS and was ≈0.2° for the MIMU. The SAID features based on angular velocity were better estimated by the MIMU, while the features based on translational velocity were better estimated by the OS. Therefore, a combination of both measurements systems is recommended to accurately estimate the complete SAID.

Dynamic Analysis of the 3-RRPS Metamorphic Parallel Mechanism Based on Instantaneous Screw Axis

The 3-rRPS metamorphic parallel mechanism can change its configurations thanks to the reconfigurable (rR) joint. The analysis in this paper will focus on one specific configuration where the moving-platform is able to perform 2-dof coupled rotational motions and 1-dof translational motion, which is well-known as 1T2R motion. In this configuration, the mechanism has two types of operation modes, i.e. x0 = 0 and x3 = 0, which have been extensively studied by many researchers. However, the dynamic behaviours of the mechanism in those two operation modes have not been studied. Accordingly, this paper presents the dynamic analysis of the 3-rRPS metamorphic parallel mechanism in both operation modes based on the Instantaneous Screw Axis (ISA). The types of operation mode are initially characterized by means of Euler-Quaternion parameters. The time derivative of transformation matrix is performed in each operation mode and the ISA can be determined. By using the ISA, velocities and accelerations of all points on the moving-platform can be evaluated, which become the foundation of the dynamic analysis in this paper. This approach can be applied to parallel mechanisms having multiple operation modes of different mobility.