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BIOMIMETIC ROBOTICS
Thisbookiswrittenasaninitialcourseinrobotics.Itisidealforthe
study of unmanned aerial or underwater vehicles, a topic on which
few books exist. It presents the fundamentals of robotics, from an
aerospace perspective, by considering only the field of robot mech-
anisms. For an aerospace engineer, three-dimensional and parallel
mechanisms – flight simulation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and space
robotics – take on an added significance. Biomimetic robot mecha-
nismsarefundamentaltomanipulatorsandwalking,mobile,andflying
robots.Asadistinguishingfeature,thisbookgivesaunifiedandinte-
grated treatment of biomimetic robot mechanisms. It is ideal prepa-
ration for the next robotics module: practical robot-control design.
Although the book focuses on principles, computational procedures
are also given due importance. Students are encouraged to use com-
putationaltoolstosolvetheexamplesintheexercises.Theauthorhas
also included some additional topics beyond his course coverage for
theenthusiasticreadertoexplore.
Ranjan Vepa has been with Queen Mary and Westfield College in
the Department of Engineering since 1984, after receiving his Ph.D.
from Stanford University. Dr. Vepa’s research covers, in addition to
biomimetic robotics, aspects of the design, analysis, simulation, and
implementation of avionics and avionics-related systems, including
nonlinear aerospace vehicle kinematics, dynamics, vibration, control,
and filtering. He has published numerous journal and conference
papers and has contributed to a textbook titled Application of Arti-
ficial Intelligence in Process Control. He is active in learning-based
designeducationandtheutilizationofmoderntechnologyinengineer-
ing education. Dr. Vepa is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the
Royal Aeronautical Society (MRAeS) London, and a Fellow of the
HigherEducationAcademy.
Biomimetic Robotics
mechanisms and control
Ranjan Vepa
QueenMary,UniversityofLondon
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521895941
© Ranjan Vepa 2009
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2009
ISBN-13 978-0-511-50691-8 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-89594-1 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Tomyfather,NarasimhaRow,andmother,Annapurna
Contents
Preface pagexiii
Acronyms xv
1. TheRobot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Robotics:AnIntroduction 1
1.2 Robot-ManipulatorFundamentalsandComponents 5
1.3 FromKinematicPairstotheKinematicsofMechanisms 12
1.4 NovelMechanisms 13
1.4.1 Rack-and-PinionMechanism 14
1.4.2 Pawl-and-RatchetMechanism 14
1.4.3 Pantograph 15
1.4.4 Quick-ReturnMechanisms 15
1.4.5 AckermannSteeringGear 16
1.4.6 SunandPlanetEpicyclicGearTrain 17
1.4.7 UniversalJoints 17
1.5 SpatialMechanismsandManipulators 18
1.6 MeetProfessordaVincitheSurgeon,PUMA,andSCARA 20
1.7 BacktotheFuture 23
exercises
24
2. BiomimeticMechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 PrinciplesofLeggedLocomotion 27
2.2.1 InchwormLocomotion 29
2.2.2 WalkingMachines 30
2.2.3 AutonomousFootstepPlanning 31
2.3 ImitatingAnimals 31
2.3.1 PrinciplesofBirdFlight 33
2.3.2 MechanismsBasedonBirdFlight 34
2.3.3 SwimmingLikeaFish 37
vii
viii Contents
2.4 BiomimeticSensorsandActuators 39
2.4.1 ActionPotentials 43
2.4.2 MeasurementandControlofCellularActionPotentials 46
2.4.3 BionicLimbs:InterfacingArtificialLimbstoLivingCells 47
2.4.4 ArtificialMuscles:FlexibleMuscularMotors 51
2.4.5 ProstheticControlofArtificialMuscles 53
2.5 ApplicationsinComputer-AidedSurgeryandManufacture 55
2.5.1 SteadyHands:ActiveTremorCompensation 56
2.5.2 DesignofScalableRoboticSurgicalDevices 58
2.5.3 RoboticNeedlePlacementandTwo-HandSuturing 60
exercises
61
3. HomogeneousTransformationsandScrewMotions . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.1 GeneralRigidMotionsinTwoDimensions 62
3.1.1 InstantaneousCentersofRotation 64
3.2 RigidBodyMotionsinThreeDimensions:DefinitionofPose 64
3.2.1 HomogeneousCoordinates:TransformationsofPosition
andOrientation 65
3.3 GeneralMotionsofRigidFramesinThreeDimensions:Frames
withPose 66
3.3.1 TheDenavit–HartenbergDecomposition 66
3.3.2 InstantaneousAxisofScrewMotion 67
3.3.3. AScrewfromaTwist 69
exercises
70
4. DirectKinematicsofSerialRobotManipulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.1 DefinitionofDirectorForwardKinematics 74
4.2 TheDenavit–HartenbergConvention 74
4.3 PlanarAnthropomorphicManipulators 76
4.4 PlanarNonanthropomorphicManipulators 78
4.5 KinematicsofWrists 80
4.6 DirectKinematicsofTwoIndustrialManipulators 81
exercises
86
5. ManipulatorswithMultiplePosturesandCompositions. . . . . . . . . . 89
5.1 InverseKinematicsofRobotManipulators 89
5.1.1 TheNatureofInverseKinematics:Postures 91
5.1.2 SomePracticalExamples 95
5.2 ParallelManipulators:Compositions 99
5.2.1 ParallelSpatialManipulators:TheStewartPlatform 101
5.3 WorkspaceofaManipulator 105
exercises
107
