Selection of major components of a four-axis transfer robot through dynamic analysis

Abstract

It is known that the material handling robot occupies the largest portion among robots currently used in industry. However, most of general-purpose robots for such purpose usually have such disadvantages as large working space and surplus degree-of-freedom of motion in practical applications. Thus, the robot needs to be optimized in view of its structure, degree-of-freedom of motion and size. For such purpose, this study conceptually designs the structure of a four-axis transfer robot of which major components such as motors and reducers are initially selected with designers' experience. Also, this study proposes a method to determine the specifications of the major components through dynamic analysis. Finally, the specifications of the major components are recommended as the analysis results, meanwhile interferences between moving parts are additionally examined. The proposed method is applied to the verification of major components of a four-axis transfer robot, and the simulation result shows that some initially-selected components need to be changed, also part of the structure needs to be modified to avoid mechanical interference between robot links.