BOND GRAPH BASED MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF FLEXIBLE ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS

Modern lightweight robotic systems require a systematic, multidisciplinary approach to design. Bond graphs provide a general paradigm that can be used in design of such complex systems. Modelling of slender manipulator links that typically undergo large translational and rotational motion is not simple. There are several approaches that are developed. In this paper slender robotic links are modelled as a collection of finite element beams based on co-rotational formulation. The model of a complete robotic system is developed using multi-level bond graph models. The resulting mathematical model is generated in the form of a system of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). One advantage of using bond graphs is that the model formulation is based on velocities (unlike other methods that typically use position formulation) and that leads to index 2 semi-explicit DAEs, which can be readily solved with available techniques. BondSim, an integrated object-oriented modelling and simulation environment, is used. The method is applied to two flexible multi-link problems and simulation results show that developed models provide excellent numerical performances. The proposed method can be successfully used for modelling other mechatronics systems as well. 1