An approach for mapping kinematic task specifications into a manipulator design

The reconfigurable modular manipulator system (RMMS) consists of modular links and joints which can be assembled into many manipulator configurations. This capability allows the RMMS to be rapidly reconfigured in order to custom tailor it to specific tasks. An important issue, related to the RMMS, is the determination of the optimal manipulator configuration for a specific task. In this paper, the authors address the problem of mapping kinematic task specifications into a kinematic manipulator configuration. For the design of 2 degrees-of-freedom planar manipulators, an analytical solution is derived. Since, for problems with more than 2 design parameters, analytical solutions become impractical, a numerical approach for the design of 6 degrees-of-freedom manipulators is developed.<>