Robotic manipulator arm

摘要

A robotic system including a manipulator arm for moving a device to a predetermined point within a working volume under control of microprocessor based control unit. The manipulator arm includes various sections and joints defining a base, a shoulder, an arm and a wrist. The wrist is jointed to pivot about a pitch axis and a roll axis. The manipulator is arranged to pivot the arm about the base axis and shoulder axis, which axes intersect at a common point. The arm includes a section which is extendable through the use of telescoping links. The wrist is mounted on the end of the telescoping links, with the pitch and roll axes intersecting at a second point. The second point lies along the extension axis of the arm links and is spaced from the shoulder-base axis intersection point. The links forming the telescoping section are arranged to move in unison with each other. A motor and associated harmonic drives are provided to effect the motion at the joints.