Design and control of the modular robot system: TOMMS

The Toshiba Modular Manipulator System, TOMMS, consists of joint modules, link modules, and a control unit with a joystick. A manipulator with 3-DOF is assembled using three joint modules and optional link modules into any desired configuration and shape, for example, a horizontal type and vertical type. The assembled manipulator is connected to the control unit, and the position of the end tip of the manipulator is controlled using the joystick without special handling. There is only one kind of joint module and link module. There are three input ports and two output ports on the joint module. The distance between the fore side and the back side of the link module is adjustable. The Jacobian matrix is applied to the control software. Control experiments were carried out and the efficiency of the design concept for mechanical hardware and control software was confirmed