Kinematic Modeling of a Compliant and Extensible Robotic Manipulator

Compliance properties in robotic manipulators are becoming increasingly important for industry applications. Compliance is now considered one of the desirable properties of the emerging flexible assembly systems. Contrary to the traditional designs, compliance properties increase safety in today's human-robot collaborative systems. This paper methodologically studies the existing compliance robotic system solutions and presents one approach and solution for designing future compliant manipulators. It presents the usefulness of compliance and ways it can be inherently integrated into modern robotic systems. A novel approach to building a robotic manipulator that incorporates compliant joints, capable of easy extension and retraction is proposed. Further, it is shown how compliant kinematics and springs interaction with moving platforms solve spatial mobility.