A Wrist Module for the Upgrade of a Light-Weight Robotic Arm

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Dexterous manipulation skills are one of the most remarkable features of human behavior. Despite the growing prevalence of automated applications for manufacturing and other activities, current robotic solutions pale by comparison with their human counterparts for complex and unpredictable tasks. In the past few years, the applicant has been concentrating his research effort on advancing dexterous manipulation technologies for robots. The main objective of this RTI application is to seek funding for purchasing the 3 DOF (Degrees-Of-Freedom) wrist module to be added to the existing 4 DOF WAM (Whole Arm Manipulator) arm so that the light-weight robotic arm can be configured as a full 7 DOF manipulator. The requested 3 DOF module represents a crucial upgrade of the existing infrastructure which has been in central use for research projects led by the applicant in recent years through NSERC DG (Discovery Grant), DAS (Discovery Accelerator Supplement) and SPG-P (Strategic Partnership Grant for Project). In order for a robot arm to realize more natural, adaptable and dexterous movements, it is essential to be equipped with a mechanism that is fully compatible with musculoskeletal structure of a human arm which is characterized by the 7 DOF motion coordinated through movements at shoulder, elbow, wrist joints and exclusion scapular motion. The requested 3 DOF wrist also comes with the option of the high-resolution 6 axis force-torque sensor. Such a cutting-edge sensory capability is expected to play a crucial role during the object manipulation tasks where we need to constantly monitor how the target object is interacting with various environments (e.g. a machine assembly for the part in hand to be mated with, a table for the grasped item to be unloaded on, or the human worker who is holding the object together with the robot arm for human-robot collaboration, etc.). The requested equipment can substantially expand the manipulability of the existing robot arm and will take the applicant’s research on dexterous manipulation to a new level, thereby contributing to the development of advanced sensing and motion control algorithms to replicate the dexterity and adaptability closer to human arms. The upgraded robotic arm will also offer a unique education and training environment for HQP in control, mechatronics, instrumentation and autonomous systems.