2 research outputs found
Unified Modeling of Unconventional Modular and Reconfigurable Manipulation System
Customization of manipulator configurations using modularity and
reconfigurability aspects is receiving much attention. Modules presented so far
in literature deals with the conventional and standard configurations. This
paper presents the 3D printable, light-weight and unconventional modules:
MOIRs' Mark-2, to develop any custom `n'-Degrees-of-Freedom (DoF) serial
manipulator even with the non-parallel and non-perpendicular jointed
configuration. These unconventional designs of modular configurations seek an
easy adaptable solution for both modular assembly and software interfaces for
automatic modeling and control. A strategy of assembling the modules, automatic
and unified modeling of the modular and reconfigurable manipulators with
unconventional parameters is proposed in this paper using the proposed 4
modular units. A reconfigurable software architecture is presented for the
automatic generation of kinematic and dynamic models and configuration files,
through which, a designer can design, validate using visualization, plan and
execute the motion of the developed configuration as required. The framework
developed is based upon an open source platform called as Robot Operating
System (ROS), which acts as a digital twin for the modular configurations. For
the experimental demonstration, a 3D printed modular library is developed and
an unconventional configuration is assembled, using the proposed modules
followed by automatic modeling and control, for a single cell of the vertical
farm setup