Modelling and Control of a Translational Robotic Arm

The objective of this paper is to design and model a translational robotic arm that is simple and cheap to manufacture while maintaining good functionality. Once the robotic arm is designed, the control analysis and computer simulation are conducted. When selecting the material used for the parts, the density and strength of are considered. This paper covers the design process, analysis and computer simulation of a robotic arm. The final design is a 4-DOF (degrees of freedom) pick and place robot. This robot has 1 prismatic joint and 3 revolute joints. The arm is designed to be used in multiple applications such as pick and place, car wash, chalkboard erasers, etc. Forward kinematics is used to calculate the end effectors position and orientation based on the positions of each joint. The Lagrange general method is used to come up with the equation of motion. Also, the control method selected for this robot was nonlinear decoupling PD control.