CABLELESS POWER AND SIGNAL TRANSFER FOR ROBOT END EFFECTOR WITH INTEGRATED SENSOR SYSTEM

ROBOTIC END EFFECTORS ARE REQUIRED TO PERFORM MANY TASKS THAT INVOLVE BOTH POWER AND SIGNAL TRANSFER ACROSS THE WRISTJOINT. USING CABLES TO PROVIDE BOTH SIGNALS AND POWER LIMITS ROTATION OF THE WRIST, DECREASES RELIABILITY AND INTERFERES WITH ARM MOTION IN RESTRICTED WORKSPACES. THE PIPROPOSES TO COMBINE SIGNALS WITH POWER ON TWO WIRES WHICH CAN BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE WRIST JOINT WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONTACT USING A ROTARY TRANSFORMER. THE EFFECTIVE BANDWIDTHIS EXTENDED BY PLACING "INTELLIGENT" FUNCTIONS ON THE END EFFECTOR AND ONLY TRANSMITTING HIGH LEVEL COMMAND AND CONTROL SEQUENCES. THIS REQUIRES ALL SENSORS AND ACTUATORS ON THE ROBOT END EFFECTOR TO BE INTEGRATED INTO ONE SYSTEM AT THE ROBOT END EFFECTOR. WORK WILL INVOLVE OPTIMIZING TRANSFORMER DESIGN AND DATA TRANSFER (BANDWIDTH AND ERROR DETECTION/CORRECTION), DEVELOPING A COMPACT AND RUGGED END EFFECTOR CONTROLLER AND INTEGRATING END EFFECTOR FUNCTIONS WITH THE CONTROLLER. AFTER DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF CABLELESS END EFFECTOR CONTROL IN PHASE I, PHASE II WILL FOCUS ON MINIATURIZATION, RUGGEDIZING AND EXTENDING THE AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS. PHASE III WILL INVOLVE BRINGING THE COMPLETED SYSTEM TO MARKET FOR GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS THAT REQUIRE COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONTACT.