抄録
A total computer-aided design system for robot manipulators “TOCARD” has been developed. This system determines all design parameters of a robot mechanism -not only the fundamental mechanism (degree of freedom, joint types, arm lengths and offsets) but also the inner mechanism (motor allocations, transmission mechanisms, motors, reduction gears, arm cross-sectional dimensions and machine elements) . Analyzing the relationship between these parameters and design evaluation functions made it clear that the fundamental mechanism is tightly connected with kinematic functions and the inner mechanism with static/dynamic functions. Accordingly, the design procedure of “TOCARD” consists of three local optimization stages to make the robot design efficient. 1) The fundamental mechanism is designed based on kinematic evaluation such as workspace, effective degree of freedom, joint displacement, velocity and acceleration, and workppece velocity and acceleration. 2) The motor allocations and transmission mechanisms are determined, and the arm cross-sectional dimensions and machine elements are calculated roughly, based on simple evaluation of dynamics-total motor power, total weight, deflection and weight capacity. 3) The arm cross-sectional dimensions and machine elements are modified based on precise evaluation of dynamics including natural frequency. “TOCARD” also has a robot simulator and the data base of machine elements.
