Tools to Support Research in Agile Mechanical Systems

敏捷机械系统代表了一类设计用于高速机动的机械系统。其中两个例子是Schönflies运动发生器，又名。平行SCARA（选择性顺应装配机器人臂）系统和用于抓取漂移物体的夹具。前者需要一个刚性的，但重量轻的结构，能够承受高操作频率。例如，这类商业机器人能够执行循环测试，需要在三分之一秒内以开放矩形的形式穿过700 mm的路径，据报道，其移动板的加速度高达15 g。由于该周期包括方向的急剧变化，所涉及的激励频率可以是1kHz的量级，远远超过机械结构的激励的典型值。此外，所讨论的结构是超静定的，这意味着小的制造误差使得闭合运动链不可能组装。我们打算科普的设计和控制的挑战，这样的系统使用鲁棒性。上述类型的夹持器涉及一个不太具有挑战性的功能：当用其手指快速闭合来抓持漂移物体时，夹持动作应该足够轻柔以避免破碎易碎物体。后者的应用，除了明显的抓取在太空中漂浮的物体外，还包括在机器人辅助外科手术中抓取活组织。本申请中要求的工具旨在支持实验工作，以验证使用连续介质力学和多体力学的良好知识制定的模型，包括运动链理论，以及控制和系统理论。

Agile mechanical systems represent a class of mechanical systems designed for high-speed manoeuvres. Two examples of these are Schönflies-motion generators, a.k.a. parallel SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) systems, and grippers intended to grasp drifting objects. The former require a stiff, yet light structure, capable of withstanding high operation frequencies. For example, one commercial robot of this class, capable of performing a cycle test that requires traversing a 700-mm path, in the form of an open rectangle, in one-third of a second, reportedly produces accelerations of its moving plate of up to 15g. As this cycle includes sharp changes of direction, the excitation frequencies involved can be of the order of 1 kHz, well beyond a typical value for the excitation of a mechanical structure. Moreover, the structure in question is hyperstatic, which means that small manufacturing errors render the closed kinematic chain impossible to assemble. We intend to cope with the design and control challenges posed by such systems using robustness. Grippers of the above kind involve one not less challenging feature: while grabbing the drifting object with a fast closing of its fingers, the gripping action should be gentle enough to avoid breaking fragile objects. Applications of the latter, beyond the obvious grabbing of objects drifting in space, include the grasping of living tissue in robot-assisted surgical operations. The tools requested in this application are intended to support experimental work intended to validate the models formulated using sound knowledge of continuum mechanics and multibody mechanics, including the theory of kinematic chains, besides control and system theory.