Modeling, control and simulation of a 6-DOF reconfigurable space manipulator with lockable cylindrical joints

Abstract

Reconfigurable manipulators can be very advantageous in dexterity-demanding tasks such as space operations. This paper presents the modeling, control and simulation of a robotic reconfigurable manipulator. The manipulator benefits from passive cylindrical joint design for its links which allows it to change the link parameters. The robot enters the reconfiguration phase in two steps; first, it forms a closed kinematic chain or in other words docks its end-effector to a fixed point in order to increase the constrained DOFs. Second, it releases the built-in locks of its cylindrical joints to enable the reconfiguration of the links. Then, the reconfiguration process is performed by using the proper control method. After achieving the desired configuration, the cylindrical joints are locked again, the end-effector is released and robot enters the operation mode. This paper only focuses on the reconfiguration process of a 6-DOF manipulator with two lockable passive cylindrical joints. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.