Extendable Arm Research Articles

Prototype Development of Extendable Arm of Tethered-Climbing Robot for Spatial Locomotion in Extreme Terrain

Prototype Development of Extendable Arm of Tethered-Climbing Robot for Spatial Locomotion in Extreme Terrain

Design of a Novel Mutliple-DOF Extendable Arm With Rigid Components Inspired by a Deployable Origami Structure

An extendable robot inspired by origami is designed, analyzed, and tested. Its deployable origami structure has a large extension ratio, allowing the robot to extend the body length multiple times. The new robot, however, differs from the existing origami structure in two aspects. One is that the robot mechanism consists of all rigid bodies, unlike the prior origami that exploits structural deformation for creating flexible configurations. The other is that new origami-inspired robot has multiple active degrees of freedom, allowing for taking various postures, unlike most deployable mechanisms composed of rigid components having a single DOF. When developing a mechanism based on an origami structure, we often encounter the deformations of parts during the transition from the contracted to the extended configurations. Previously, we analyzed the motion of a deployable origami structure considering the foldings’ deformation and showed that they do not have any kinematic roles but give a large effect to constrain the motion. Thus, we come to the idea that by removing such parts, a novel rigid extendable mechanism with multiple DOF can be obtained, which can achieve a large extension ratio and a high transformability only by its kinematic structure, beyond an original origami structure.

A Study of Extendable Super-Multi DOF Robot Arm with Deployment and Shaping System

A Study of Extendable Super-Multi DOF Robot Arm with Deployment and Shaping System

A three-dimensional computerized isometric strength measurement system

The three-dimensional Computerized Isometric Strength Measurement System (CISMS) reliably and accurately measures isometric pull and push strengths in workspaces of paraplegic populations while anticipating comparative studies with other populations. The main elements of the system were: an extendable arm, a vertical supporting track, a rotating platform, a force transducer, stability sensors and a computerized data collection interface. The CISMS with minor modification was successfully used to measure isometric push-up and pull-down strengths of paraplegics and isometric push, pull, push-up and pull-down strength in workspaces for seated and standing able-bodied populations. The instrument has satisfied criteria of versatility, safety and comfort, ease of operation, and durability. Results are accurate within 2 N for aligned forces. Costing approximately $1,500 (US) including computer, the system is affordable and accurate for aligned isometric strength measurements.

1015 伸展式アームによるデブリ捕獲(S89 宇宙システムの誘導・制御,S89 宇宙システムの誘導・制御)

1015 伸展式アームによるデブリ捕獲(S89 宇宙システムの誘導・制御,S89 宇宙システムの誘導・制御)

Development of a steerable, wheel-type, in-pipe robot and its path planning

This paper presents the development of a steerable, wheel-type, in-pipe robot and its path planning. First, we show the construction of the robot and demonstrate its locomotion inside a pipe. The robot is composed of two wheel frames and an extendable arm which links the centers of the two wheel frames. The arm presses the frames against the interior wall of a pipe to support the robot. The wheels of the frames are steered independently so that the robot can turn within a small radius of rotation. Experimental results of the locomotion show that the steering control is effective for autonomous navigation to avoid obstacles and to enter the joint spaces of L- and T-shaped pipes. Generally, autonomous navigation is difficult for wheel-type robots because the steering angles required to travel along a desired path are not easily determined. In our previous work, the relationship between the steering angles and locomotion trajectories in a pipe has already been analyzed. Using this analysis, we propose the path planning in pipes.