Design and Development of Insulated Link for Robotic Arms Used in 10kV Distribution Line Live Work

It is an inevitable trend that intelligent equipments such as robots assist or replace human labour in live work. In the mode of the live working robot, the insulation protection of the robot arm is crucial for live working scenarios in distribution networks with small space and complex working conditions. This article proposes a fully insulated design scheme for the currently widely used 6-axis articulated collaborative robotic arm according to the requirements of live work. Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) materials are used to develop insulating pipes with larger diameters and thicker walls to replace the metal robot links. Solve the electromagnetic Compatibility(EMC) problem by spraying a metal material shielding layer on the inner arm of the insulated link and using shielded cables. Static simulation calculations were performed on the insulated link, and the insulation performance was tested. The results show that the use of GFRP material insulated link can meet the requirements for the positioning accuracy of the robotic arm and the insulation level of 10kV voltage level live work.