U-013

The Kinematics of Manipulators Built From Closed Planar Mechanisms

Authors: Leonid Slutski, Damien Chablat, and Jorge Angeles
Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering & Centre for Intelligent Machines, McGill University

Abstract
The paper discusses the kinematics of manipulators builts of planar closed kinematic chains. A special kinematic scheme is extracted from the array of these mechanisms that looks the most promising for the creation of different types of robotic manipulators. The structural features of this manipulator determine a number of its original properties that essentially simplify itscontrol. These features allow the main control problems to be effectively overcome by application of the simple kinematic problems. The workspace and singular configurations of a basic planar manipulator are studied. By using a graphic simulation method, motions of the designed mechanism are examined. A prototype of this mechanism was implemented to verify the proposed approach.

Leonid Slutski
Department of Mechanical Engineering & Centre for Intelligent Machines
McGill University
Montreal, QC H3A 2A7 Canada
slutski@Athena.McRCIM.McGill.EDU