HIGH STRENGTH-TO-WEIGHT ARTICULATED MANIPULATOR

A HIGH STRENGTH-TO-WEIGHT MANIPULATOR WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DELIVERED TO THE U.S. ARMY AS AN APPLICATIONS TESTBED AND PROTOTYPE FOR FUTURE EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT. THE 3 DOF MANI-PULATOR WILL BE ARTICULATED WITHOUT LOSS OF STRENGTH FOR FOLDABLE, COMPACT STOWAGE AND A VERSATILE EXTENSIVE REACH ENVELOPE. MAXIMUM PAYLOAD WILL BE 300 POUNDS AND MAXIMUM REACH WILL BE 6 FEET. THE ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED MANIPULATORSYSTEM WILL BE MOUNTED ON A MODIFIED, OFF-THE-SHELF ALL- TERRAIN VEHICLE. IN ADDITION, THE MANIPULATOR WILL INCORPO-RATE AN ACTIVE DEFLECTION COMPENSATION SYSTEM AND CLOSED LOOP COMPUTER CONTROLS TO PROVIDE HIGH ACCURACY AND REPEATA BILITY AT RELATIVELY HIGH SPEEDS, DESPITE VARYING PAYLOADS AND TRAJECTORIES. INTERFACES FOR WRIST AND END EFFECTOR ASSEMBLIES, REMOTE VISION AND A REMOTE CONTROL STATION WILL BE PROVIDED