DESIGN OF AN INTEGRATED ARM/WRIST/HAND SYSTEM FOR WHOLE-ARM MANIPULATION

THIS PROJECT WILL DESIGN A COMPLETE, INTEGRATED ROBOTIC ARM/WRIST/HAND SYSTEM. THE COMPONENTS OF THIS DESIGN WILL BE PROPERLY MATCHED TO MAXIMIZE THE OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. THE INTEGRATED DESIGN WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE DURABILITY, LOW-BULK, AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS OF WHOLE-ARM MANIPULATION (WAM) BY ADAPTING NEWLY INVENTED MECHANICAL-TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGIES FOR WHOLE-ARM MANIPULATION. THE RESULTING INTEGRATED DESIGN WILL FEATURE A SLIGHTLY MODIFIED VERSION OF THE WAM ARM, A THREE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM WRIST WITH A CABLED DIFFERENTIAL, AND A SIMPLE, LIGHTWEIGHT HAND. AS PART OF THE PHASE II PROJECT, A LIGHTWEIGHT PROTOTYPE WILL BE BUILT AND INTEGRATED WITH A WAM ARM AND WRIST FOR TESTING AND FOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION. THIS PROJECT WILL DESIGN A COMPLETE, INTEGRATED ROBOTIC ARM/WRIST/HAND SYSTEM. THE COMPONENTS OF THIS DESIGN WILL BE PROPERLY MATCHED TO MAXIMIZE THE OVERALL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. THE INTEGRATED DESIGN WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE DURABILITY, LOW-BULK, AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS OF WHOLE-ARM MANIPULATION (WAM) BY ADAPTING NEWLY INVENTED MECHANICAL-TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGIES FOR WHOLE-ARM MANIPULATION. THE RESULTING INTEGRATED DESIGN WILL FEATURE A SLIGHTLY MODIFIED VERSION OF THE WAM ARM, A THREE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM WRIST WITH A CABLED DIFFERENTIAL, AND A SIMPLE, LIGHTWEIGHT HAND. AS PART OF THE PHASE II PROJECT, A LIGHTWEIGHT PROTOTYPE WILL BE BUILT AND INTEGRATED WITH A WAM ARM AND WRIST FOR TESTING AND FOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.