Mechanical Design and Dynamic Compliance Control of Lightweight Manipulator

In the existing modular joint design and control methods of collaborative robots, the inertia of the manipulator link is large, the dynamic trajectory planning ability is weak, the collision stop safety strategy is dependent, and the adaptability and safety to the changing environment are limited. This paper develops a six-degree-of-freedom lightweight collaborative manipulator with real-time dynamic trajectory planning and active compliance control. Firstly, a novel motor installation, joint transmission, and link design method is put forward to reduce the inertia of the links and improve intrinsic safety. At the same time, to enhance the dynamic operation capability and quick response of the manipulator, a smooth planning of position and orientation under initial/end pose and velocity constraints is proposed. The adaptability to the environment is improved by the active compliance control. Finally, experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed design, planning, and control methods.