Design and construction of a microcomputer-controlled light-weight robot arm

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Abstract

This paper describes current research on a computer-controlled light-weight mechanical arm. This mechanical arm is a self-contained, autonomous system capable of executing high-level commands from a supervisory computer. The links used in the experimental model are made of aluminium, while the actuators of the joints are permanent magnet type dc motors driven by servo-amplifiers via Pulse Width Modulation. To avoid the use of tachometers and thus reduce the link masses, a method for velocity estimation based on a position history was developed which can be implemented in digital circuitry. The design of the full-servo-loop is described, as well as the interface between the arm and an IBM-XT type microcomputer. Experimental results show that the link masses can be reduced by replacing the joint tachometers with a velocity estimator and very fast response can be achieved using light-weight structures without compromising rigidity.

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John N. Lygouras was born in Kozani, Greece on May 21, 1955. He received the Diploma degree and the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece in 1982 and in 1990, respectively, both with honors. From 1982 he was a research assistant and since 1990 he is a Lecturer at the Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Electrical Engineering. He is engaged in research and development of light-weight robotic manipulators. His interests also include the research and development of underwater remotely operated vehicles.

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Basil G. Mertzios was born in Kavala, Greece on August 10, 1956. He received the Diploma Degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1979, and the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece in 1982, both with honors. Since 1986 he has been Associate Professor at the Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Laboratory of Automatic Control Systems. During part of 1981, 1983, and each year from 1986 he has been visiting the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, as a Research Assistant and Associate. During part of 1986 he visited the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, as an Adjunct Associate Professor. During the academic year 1987–88 he was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Electrical Engineering and in the academic year 1987–88 he was a Research fellow at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. In 1986 he was awarded the Senior Fulbright Research Award, in 1987 the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, and in 19888 the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada International Scientific Exchange Award. He published more than 60 research journal papers in various areas of control system theory, multidimensional digital signal processing and robotics and more than 50 research papers in International Scientific Conferences. His research efforts were supported by a number of research grants in Canada, Europe and USA. He has also industrial and consulting experience in automatic control systems and signal processing applications. He is listed in a number of International Who's Who. His research interests span the fields of automatic control systems, robotics, multidimensional digital signal processing and neural networks.

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Nicholas C. Voulgaris received the B.E.E. degree from the City University of New York, New York, NY in 1957 and the M.S.E.E. and Eng.Sc.D. degrees from Columbia University, New York, NY in 1959 and 1968, respectively. During the years 1957–1958, 1959–1961, and 1963–1965, he was a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the City University of New York. From 1961 to 1963 and from 1970 to 1973, he was a Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Telephone Laboratories. From October 1968 to June 1970, he worked as a Research Engineer at the NASA Electronics Research Center, Cambridge, MA. From June 1973 to April 1980, he was with the Public Power Corporation of Greece and with the National Technical University of Athens. Since May 1980, he is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering (Telecommunication Systems) of the Demokritos University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece. His current research interests include digital signal processing and microcomputer applications.

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