DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A 5 DOF DEXTEROUS ROBOTIC ARM FOR INDUSTRIAL TASKS

Abstract

In recent years the design, fabrication and development of dexterous robotic arms and robotic hands have been active research areas all around the world. This paper describes a mechanical system design concept and a prototype implementation of a 5 DOF jointed-arm robot, which should perform industrial task such as pick-and-place operation. This robot arm, being controlled by a microcontroller and interfaced to a computer, has base rotation, shoulder, elbow and wrist motion, and a functional gripper. Two-fingered gripper has been built as end effector and is capable of grasping diverse objects, even under external disturbances, within own workspace of the arm possible. Control of the robotic arm has been achieved successfully using six servo motors. The microcontroller implements inverse kinematics algorithms and position control on the motors. The design aims to provide fine manipulation in performing industrial tasks, while still maintaining the simplicity of design, miniaturization, and lightness are also achieved.