Design and Dimensional Optimization of a Controllable Metamorphic Palletizing Robot

The controllable metamorphic mechanisms offer the advantages of adjustable mechanisms and multiple configurations. Most of these mechanisms are not yet applied in industry. To achieve the dimension calculation method for engineering applications as well as the effective and functional industrial prototype of these mechanisms, firstly, this paper designed a controllable metamorphic palletizing robot which can have 2-degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) and single-DOF configurations. Further, this robot mechanism was studied using workspace analysis. The evaluation of its kinematic performance in workspace was presented. On this basis, a dimensional optimization method for metamorphic mechanisms based on workspace discretization was developed. The optimal workspace and corresponding dimensional parameters of this robot mechanism were obtained by this method and verified by the conventional calculation approach. A physical prototype of the robot was manufactured using optimized dimensional parameters and the feasibility as well as the practicality of its scheme was demonstrated.