RESEARCH ARTICLE

A modular design kit for task-adaptable low-cost robots based on BaPaMan design

  • G. BORCHERT , 1 ,
  • C. LÖCHTE 1 ,
  • G. CARBONE 2 ,
  • A. RAATZ 1
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  • 1. TU Braunschweig-IWF, Braunschweig 38106, Germany
  • 2. Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics, University of Cassino and South Latium, Cassino 03043, Italy

Received date: 09 Nov 2012

Accepted date: 06 Dec 2012

Published date: 05 Mar 2013

Copyright

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

This paper discusses the redesign of a binary parallel manipulator named BaPaMan (Binary Actuated Parallel Manipulator). The aim of this work is the improvement of the structures stiffness of BaPaMan. Additionally this paper shows the implementation of a construction kit which allows task-adaptation of low-cost robots based on the BaPaMan structure. BaPaMan is a three degree of freedom (DOF) spatial parallel robot which comprises flexure hinges and Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators to achieve a low-cost design, well suited for easy operation applications. Measurements have shown that this comes at the cost of poor structural stiffness and end effector accuracy. To counter these issues BaPaMan2 and BaPaMan3 have been developed and are elaborated within this work. During the design phase, an empirical FEA is used to improve the flexure hinge performance, which analyses relations between several design parameters and the stiffness of the entire system. Finally, task-adaptation is achieved by using a design methodology and a parametric CAD model for BaPaMan. Besides the paper introduces first applications of the BaPaMan structure and shows future work.

Cite this article

G. BORCHERT , C. LÖCHTE , G. CARBONE , A. RAATZ . A modular design kit for task-adaptable low-cost robots based on BaPaMan design[J]. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 2013 , 8(1) : 33 -41 . DOI: 10.1007/s11465-013-0356-5

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported within the DAADCRUI German-Italian bilateral program Vigoni, which is gratefully acknowledged.
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