Real-time vibration analysis of a robotic arm designed for CT image guided diagnostic procedures

Abstract

Robots are used in many fields like medicine, agriculture, industries, etc. A robotic arm is designed so that it can be used in the field of medicine for diagnostic purposes in radiology department. Accuracy, precision, and space efficiency play an important role specifically while dealing with biopsies of tumors and cancer tissues. The robotic arm designed here takes the coordinates from the CT image as input and reaches the target point with precision. In this research paper, the main focus is on reducing the vibration of the end needle to increase the accuracy during operation of the robot. LabVIEW has been used for programming to measure the axial vibrations of the links. Accelerometer connected with MyRio controller was used for measuring vibrations caused due to the functioning of actuators. Structure of the robot was optimized by adding a support structure to reduce vibrations. Vibration analysis was done again using same setup. Amplitude of vibrations of Link 4 where the needle will be attached is analyzed using GRAPH software by generating a moving average which acts as a baseline. From graphical method, it was found that on an average the amplitude of vibration was reduced in the range of 62.5–66.67%.