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Design, modeling and optimization of an underwater manipulator with four-bar mechanism and compliant linkage

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Abstract

Underwater manipulators are very important for a robot to perform a specific operation in water. Conventional robot arm manipulators have been suggested for various operations but have not been suitable for repeated motion in gathering something. This paper presents a new underwater manipulator design for gathering things such as starfish on the sea floor. The manipulator is composed of a four-bar linkage to achieve repeated motion along a loop and compliant linkages to enhance the efficiency of the gathering work. Kinematic and quasi-static analyses were performed to calculate the loop path and the reaction force at the actuation point. Based on the analysis, optimal design was performed to maximize the working distance with the height difference and the reaction moments considered as constraints. A prototype was assembled to test the performance of the manipulator, and the empirical loop path was compared to simulation results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea

    Sangrok Jin, Jihoon Kim, Jangho Bae & Jongwon Kim

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749, Korea

    TaeWon Seo

Authors
  1. Sangrok Jin
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  2. Jihoon Kim
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  3. Jangho Bae
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  4. TaeWon Seo
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  5. Jongwon Kim
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to TaeWon Seo or Jongwon Kim.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Kyoungchul Kong

Sangrok Jin received a B.S. degree in 2008 and a Ph.D. degree in 2014 from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea. He is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Seoul National University. His research interests include field robot system design and control.

Jihoon Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, where he also received a B.S. degree in 2012. His research interests include underwater robotic platform design and control.

Jangho Bae is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, where he also received a B.S. degree in 2013. His research interests include underwater robotic platform design and control.

TaeWon Seo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea. He received a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in 2008. He was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Nanorobotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. His research interests include creative robotic platform design, control, optimization and motion planning.

Jongwon Kim is a Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea. He received the B.S. degree from Seoul National University (SNU) in 1978, the M.S. degree from KAIST, Korea, in 1980, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1987, all in Mechanical Engineering. From 1980 to 1989 he was with the Division of Machine Tools at Daewoo Heavy Industries (now Doosan Infracore). He is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SNU and also coordinator of the Robotics@ SNU group. His current research interests include parallel mechanism machines, Taguchi methods, and robotic platform design. He was director of the Intelligent Robotics Research Institute, and the Institute of Advanced Machines and Design at SNU. He is currently Director of the ProCEED Idea Factory at SNU. His work on parallel mechanism machine tools and robots has been recognized with a best paper award from the ASME Manufacturing Engineering Division, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) University LEAD Award, the Outstanding Research Award from the Korean Society of Precision Engineers. He has also received several teaching excellence awards from the University, the SNU College Engineering, and the Korean Society for Engineering Education.

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Jin, S., Kim, J., Bae, J. et al. Design, modeling and optimization of an underwater manipulator with four-bar mechanism and compliant linkage. J Mech Sci Technol 30, 4337–4343 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0848-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0848-4

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