Design and Experimental Testing of an In-Parallel Actuated 3 DOF Serial Robotic Manipulator for Unmanned Ground Vehicle

This paper presents the design of a 3 degree of freedom manipulator which can be easily mounted on an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). UGVs operate in closed spaces and rough terrains where human manipulation is difficult for applications involving urban search and rescue. The manipulator therefore needs to have high performance, be light-weight and compact. The proposed design of the manipulator can be easily used with different end-effectors like a camera, gripper or cutter, relevant to the application. In order to maximize the payload capacity and minimize power consumption, in-parallel actuation of the elbow joint is proposed which nullifies the load of actuator on shoulder joint. A chain mechanism is used to transfer torque from motor at base to the relevant joint. Self-locking has been achieved by using worm and gear. This approach results in an increase of 1.42 kilograms in the payload capacity of the manipulator. The results are verified through experimentation.