Predicted and observed active damping performance of macro-micro manipulators
Date
1998
Authors
Van Vliet, Christopher John
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Macro-micro manipulators are used where a long, lightweight manipulator with fine end effector control is required. The large, flexible macro-manipulator deploys the small, rigid micro-manipulator to a work site, where the fine dexterous control of the micro-manipulator is utilized to perform a specific task. Residual vibration in the macro-manipulator can be actively damped by the micro-manipulator.
Two algorithms for active damping are investigated. Each method is simulated on several simple manipulators and implemented experimentally on a macro-micro manipulator test-bed at the University of Victoria. Active damping performance is dependent not only on the choice of active damping algorithm, but also on the nominal micro-manipulator configuration. Three tools for predicting the optimal micro-manipulator configurations are evaluated against the two active damping algorithms. Little previous research effort has been directed towards making such predictions.
The University of Victoria macro-micro manipulator was developed specifically for the active damping experiments. Design, modelling, and control details of this manipulator are presented.