Static Force-Based Modeling and Parameter Estimation for a Deformable Link Composed of Passive Spherical Joints With Preload Forces

To balance the contradiction between higher flexibility and heavier load bearing capacity, we present a novel deformable manipulator which is composed of active rigid joints and deformable links. The deformable link is composed of passive spherical joints with preload forces between socket-ball surfaces. To estimate the load bearing capacity of a deformable link, we present a static force-based model of spherical joint with preload force and analyze the static force propagation in the deformable link. This yields an important result that the load bearing capacity of a spherical joint only depends on its radius, preload force, and static friction coefficient. We further develop a parameter estimation method to estimate the product of preload force and static friction coefficient. The experimental results validate our model. 80.4% of percentage errors on the maximum payload mass prediction are below 15%.