Control System for a Hyper-Redundant Robot

Abstract

Abstract Command and control system of a hyper-redundant robot is presented in this paper. Hyper-redundant robots are a new class of robots designed with a large number of joints with high degree of mobility, in order to operate in areas with restrictions. The robot presented in this paper is a hyper-redundant robot elephant trunk type with truncated cone structure. Flexible structure is made of two independent modules that drive, bending robot is made by nature. Drive block for each module consists of two stepper motors that allow bending toward the axes X and Y. The transmission and engine to convert the movement of flexible modules are achieved through a reduction gear assembly and sheaves. Each module consists of 4(5) flexible items. Each element is driven by four cables (one pair for each axis). Separate drive of each element of flexible module provides a very good control of the distribution of forces, and curvature. The control system is built on a 32-bit PIC microcontroller. Control algorithm allows the motor control by microsteps using integrated PWM voltage generator. The law of motion is given by a fuzzy algorithm which optimizes the parameters of movement. For kinematic simulation, the model of the robot was made in Solidworks CAD environment, achieving a parametric animation.