A Systematic Procedure for the Elastodynamic Modeling and Identification of Robot Manipulators

This paper presents a systematic procedure for the elastodynamic modeling of industrial robots that is applicable to either serial or parallel manipulators. This procedure is based on a 3-D space generalization of the equivalent rigid link system (ERLS) description, the finite-element method (FEM), and the Lagrange principle. It considers flexible links and joints, and leads to generic equations of motion expressed according to the angles of the actuated joints and the independent elastic degrees of freedom. An efficient identification process through modal analysis is detailed, and the description of damping and joint behavior according to the model application is discussed. The method is applied to a 3-D delta-like parallel structure and successfully validated through an experimental impact testing-based modal analysis.