Transient Response of One-Link Robotic Arm Striking a Rigid Wall

Abstract

This paper describes the transient response of a robotic arm which rebounds from a wall or is interrupted by the wall, after the free end of the arm comprising a beam attached to a hub gyrating about an axis, strikes the surface of a rigid wall. Two integro-differential equations are produced to use Hamilton's principle, providing the variational method upon which the finite-element weak form is built. The flexure energy of the beam is derived by using the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory. The kinetic energy caused by the moment of inertia of the hub is also taken into account. The finite-element method is used to discretize the equations of motion. The results of simulation are compared to time histories of bending strain measured by a strain gage. The variations of bending strain consist of the basic frequency mode and other frequency modes. The time histories of the simulated bending strain is in agreement with that from experiment, except in high-frequency modes.