Abstract
Human works like handling objects, carrying loads, assembling parts, and cutting parts, are completed by the combination of both leg locomotion and hand manipulation, in the various fields of construction, agricultural fields, factory, and home. The authors propose a new concept for the integration of locomotion and manipulation, “the Integrated Limb Mechanism.” The concept covers the technical fields both of the control integration and of the mechanism integration necessary for the practical working robot.
Here, a six-bar linkage mechanism with four degrees of freedom is introduced as an example of integrated limb mechanism with both advantages in leg and in arm with consideration for mechanical design. Computer simulation with the dynamic model is performed to verify the transformability from leg posture into arm posture of the mechanism. The kinematic analysis by the manipulatability ellipsoid is done to evaluate the different motion rates between the leg posture and the arm posture. Some useful tasks are considered suitable to the mechanism.
