Design and Simulation of an Innovative Modular Four-Bar Linkage Robotic Arm: Analysis and Applications

Abstract

In response to the issues of traditional manipulators, such as difficulty in controlling the terminal posture during motion, low control precision, and complex structure, a modular mechanical arm based on a parallel four-bar terminal posture maintenance mechanism has been designed to meet the special requirements of terminal posture maintenance. By analyzing the motion mechanism of the manipulator, the shape space of the manipulator, the terminal position space, and the relationships of forward and inverse kinematics have been derived. A simulation model of the linkage manipulator was established in the Robotic Toolbook for Matlab environment, and structural simulation analysis and kinematic equation verification were conducted. The end positioning and attitude control of different manipulators are simulated by Matlab programming. The working space of the manipulators is calculated by Monte Carlo method, and compared with that of traditional planar manipulators. The results show the validity of the kinematics equation and the rationality of the end positioning control scheme of the linkage manipulator. Finally, the experiment verifies that the attitude retention rate of the modular decoupling manipulator is 97.78% under high load, which verifies the reliability of this scheme. In addition, the manipulator can simplify the complexity of the mechanical structure and complete the control requirements of the terminal attitude under the premise of increasing the working space as much as possible, which lays a foundation for the design and optimization of the manipulator in the field of modular terminal attitude.