Dynamic modeling and vibration mode analysis for an industrial robot with rigid links and flexible joints

Nowadays, most industrial robots have been designed to be mechanically stiff with rigid link. When a robot with heavy payload is running in fast motions, the residual vibrations of the end-effector are primary caused by joint flexibility. Therefore, the flexibility of joint cannot be neglected. This paper presents a systematic approach to dynamic modeling and residual vibration mode analysis for an industrial robot with rigid links and flexible joints (RLFJ). First, the flexibility of the joint is modeled as a torsional spring and the dynamic equations for this robot are derived by using Lagrange's method. Then, to examine residual vibration properties of the system, numerical simulation is carried out. The following important conclusions are drawn from simulation results: (1) the proposed dynamic model can represent joint flexibility of industrial robot and the joint flexibility causes the residual vibration of the end-effector; (2) for a given RLFJ model, the residual vibration is mainly affected by the payload mass, path of the task and joint stiffness.