Iterative path optimization for practical robot planning

Abstract

This paper presents a new 6-DOF serial manipulator with five revolute joints and one prismatic joint, designed to operate equipment inside Hydro-Que¿bec underground distribution vaults. The manipulator is an upgraded model developed after field testing a 6-DOF wrist-partitioned serial manipulator prototype. The new manipulator architecture is intended to solve space constraint problems in some vaults. This paper covers the geometrical model of the new manipulator, an analytical solution for the inverse kinematic equations, the dynamic model used to compute torques/forces at the actuators, and simulations performed with MATLAB and CATIA. The manipulator is the only robot application in the world designed to operate equipment on underground distribution power lines.