Simulation of 6-DOF Modular Arm-Z Manipulator in MATLAB Simulink

Arm-Z is a concept of a hyper-redundant manipulator based on linearly joined sequence of congruent units. Each unit has only one degree of freedom (1-DOF) - the twist relative to the previous unit. This paper presents the approach to design of modular robotic manipulator based on computer simulations. The approach is rather standard nowadays, however, it is applied to rather unique robotic system. The CAD model of the module structure for a manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom and respective Denavit-Hartenberg notation are presented. Simulink - a MATLAB-based graphical programming environment was used to determine the torques of individual modules. The results of three simulations are presented and discussed. Finally, based on critical observations, the drive and gear for the module of Arm-Z system were selected.