Design and Development of 2-DOF Active Revolute Joint for Robot Actuation

Multiple-DOF active joints have been subject to research in robotics due to their capabilities to actuate higher DOF robot manipulators in constrained space. This paper proposes an efficient design for a 2-DOF Revolute (RR) active joint that is suitable for robot actuation. The mechanisms that are based on standard metric gear profile are discussed. A suitable electronic control system is implemented to control the actuation of the 2-DOF revolute joint. A cost-effective prototype is developed to verify the feasibility of the design and it can be operated in manual and external control modes. In manual mode, users are able to jog the prototype on the two moving axes an on-board joystick. The external control mode enables autonomous operations through external commands that can be generated and sent by a purpose-written MATLAB App. Results for range of motion of the prototype are presented.