Dynamical Simulation of a Robotic Structure

Designing an industrial robotic structure is known to be a complex endeavor, owing to the different product specifications that must be met, while taking several constraints of the system’s structure such as weight limitations into consideration. In this work, an in-depth design approach is presented whereby theories of the mechanics of serial-linked robotic structures were critically investigated to adopt and present a concise analytical and computer-aided approach to the design of a 6-DOF industrial robotic structure. The CAE tools have come to make the job of design engineers incredibly easier, however, beyond just using these tools to obtain information about the system, it is necessary to set up a sufficiently representative mathematical model of the numerically simulated systems for verification purposes. Furthermore, by setting up and evaluating an analytical model, the engineer can easily vary the geometrical and natural parameters as well as the constraints within the system’s model to achieve an optimized structure according to the design expectation. One of such design requirements is attaining a sufficient stiffness of the robotic structure, within weight constraints to guard it from vibrations which could negatively impact its operational accuracy. To practically demonstrate this concept, numerical finite element analysis and mathematical modeling of the vibrations that could occur on the designed industrial robot’s link arm are presented in this study. The analytical procedure that is presented in this thesis report can be applied to both simplified robot model design, analysis, and verification, and it can also be adopted or serve as a basis for the design of a more complex robotic system than the one presented in this study.