On the Dynamic Characteristics of a Balanced PUMA-760 Robot

Abstract-It has been generally accepted that the dynamic cbaracteris-tics of the articulated robot are very complex in nature represented by highly nonlinear and coupled second-order differential equations. The serial connectipn of several linkages can give the robot kinematic dexterity buf it also can be one of the reasons for increasing the complexity in the dynamic characteristics of the articulated robot. To reduce the&Fomplexities in robot dynamics, the authors have introduced a mechanical counter-balancing concept that is based upon the theory of adding balancing masses to unbalanced conventional manipulators. This paper examines the effects of balancing on the dynamic characteristics of the PUMA-760 robot when the designed counter-balancing mechanism is applied to the robot. Through theoretical and experimental study many distinct advantages such as simplicity in the dynamic equation and significant reduction in the total required input torques are demonstrated for various manipulator speeds and payload conditions. Based upon these results unique dynamic characteristics of the balanced PUMA-760 robot are discussed in detail. I