Intelligent Modularized Reconfigurable Mechanisms for Robots: Development and Experiment

With the development of intelligent flexible manufacturing, traditional industrial manipulators with a single configuration are difficult to meet a variety of tasks. Reconfigurable robots have developed rapidly which could change their configurations and end effectors for different tasks. The reconfigurable connecting mechanism (RCM) is a core component of reconfigurable robots. In this paper, two types of intelligent modularized RCMs with light weight, high payload, and large pose (position and attitude) error tolerance are developed. One is driven by shape memory alloy (SMA) and recovery spring. It is locked by steel balls and key. The other is driven by electromagnetic coil and locked by permanent magnet and key. The locking principle, mechanical system and control system of the two RCMs are detailed introduced. Both of them meet the requirements of high precision and high payload in the industrial field. Finally, the developed RCMs are respectively integrated to a practical robot and experimented. The experiment results verified the performance of the two RCMs.