Design and analysis of an innovative modular robotic manipulator

The goal of this study is to implement a design and analysis scheme for the new modular robotic manipulator with multi-degree of freedom (DOF) links capable of elongating by 15% of its nominal length. The intent is to facilitate the movement of the proposed robotic manipulator in constraint environments, such as rubble piles. In this respect, the total number of links decided by optimization methodology can be useful distinction in practice. To identify the benefits of the proposed design approach, the reachable workspace of the proposed manipulator is compared with that of the jet propulsion laboratory serpentine robot. In addition, both the manipulability and singularity of the designed manipulator are investigated. The simulation results show that the proposed manipulator has a relatively efficient reachable workspace to deal with a variety of constrained directions, needed in constrained environments.