Manipulator (device)
Related papers: 20
About
A manipulator, in robotics, is a mechanical arm-like device composed of rigid or flexible links connected by joints that can be driven to position and orient an end-effector — such as a gripper or tool — within a workspace. Manipulators range from simple serial-link arms, where joints are arranged in an open chain, to parallel configurations like the Stewart platform, where multiple limbs act simultaneously to achieve high stiffness and precision. They are actuated by electric motors, hydraulic systems, pneumatic muscles, or cable-driven mechanisms, and controlled through techniques spanning classical PID, model-based dynamics compensation, adaptive control, and neural network approaches. In practice, manipulators perform tasks including assembly, welding, pick-and-place operations, surgical procedures, agricultural harvesting, and space servicing. Controlling them requires solving kinematics to translate desired end-effector motions into joint commands, and dynamics to handle nonlinear forces during motion or physical contact with objects. Hybrid position/force control, redundancy resolution, and calibration methods further refine accuracy and safety. Manipulators matter because they extend human physical capability into hazardous, precise, or repetitive domains, forming the mechanical backbone of nearly all practical robotic systems.
Top Researchers
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Top Cited Papers
Introduction to Robotics mechanics and Control
John Craig
Citations: 5039 • 1986
Hybrid Position/Force Control of Manipulators
Marc H. Raibert, John Craig
Citations: 2978 • 1981
On the Adaptive Control of Robot Manipulators
Jean-Jacques Slotine, Weiping Li
Citations: 2258 • 1987
The Stewart platform manipulator: a review
Bhaskar Dasgupta, T.S. Mruthyunjaya
Citations: 699 • 2000
Kinematic control of redundant robot manipulators: A tutorial
Bruno Siciliano
Citations: 579 • 1990
Mechanics and Planning of Manipulator Pushing Operations
Matthew T. Mason
Citations: 574 • 1986
Model-based control of a robot manipulator
Citations: 556 • 1988
The Application of Model-Referenced Adaptive Control to Robotic Manipulators
Steven Dubowsky, Daniel Desforges
Citations: 536 • 1979
Robot Force Control
Bruno Siciliano, Luigi Villani
Citations: 507 • 1999
Robot Manipulator Control
Frank L. Lewis, D.M. Dawson, Chaouki T. Abdallah
Citations: 481 • 2003
A New Actuation Approach for Human Friendly Robot Design
Michael Zinn, Bernard Roth, Oussama Khatib, J. Kenneth Salisbury
Citations: 441 • 2004
Fundamentals of manipulator calibration
Citations: 430 • 1992
Playing it safe
Michael Zinn, Oussama Khatib, Bernard Roth, J. Kenneth Salisbury
Citations: 405 • 2004
Design and control of an apple harvesting robot
Jidong Lv, Wei Ji, Ying Zhang, Yu Chen
Citations: 382 • 2011
Dynamic analysis and control of a stewart platform manipulator
G. Lebret, Kai Liu, Frank L. Lewis
Citations: 330 • 1993
Static and dynamic characteristics of McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles
Ching-Ping Chou, Blake Hannaford
Citations: 324 • 2002
Optimal Design of a 4-DOF Parallel Manipulator: From Academia to Industry
François Pierrot, Vincent Nabat, S. Krut, Philippe Poignet
Citations: 321 • 2009
Improving the absolute positioning accuracy of robot manipulators
S. Hayati, Maj Mirmirani
Citations: 321 • 1985
New kinematic structures for 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-DOF parallel manipulator designs
Feng Gao, Weimin Li, Xianchao Zhao, Zhenlin Jin, Hui Zhao
Citations: 313 • 2002
Robot manipulator control using neural networks: A survey
Long Jin, Shuai Li, Jiguo Yu, Jinbo He
Citations: 312 • 2018