Anatomy Optimization and Experimental Verification of a Metamorphic Manipulator

Abstract

Metamorphic manipulators are gaining increasing research interest, due the capability of altering their anatomy in order to improve their performance in the execution of a given task. In this paper, an optimization method is presented for the determination of the best anatomy of a metamorphic manipulator for the execution of a robotic task. The proposed method is applied to a case study 3 DoF metamorphic manipulator. An experimental setup is used for the verification of the results. Measurements of the amperage usage by the manipulator's joint's motors during the execution of the task are used to compare the manipulator's energy usage during task execution for the reference and the derived optimal anatomy.