Multi-Modular Manipulator (M3)

NSERC Strategic Project:

Principal Investigator: Prof. R.Patel (University of Western Ontario)

Co-Investigator: Prof. Jorge Angeles (McGill University)

McGill Team
Dr.Alexei Morozov, Research Associate, 1999-2003,
Mr. Oscar Navarro Martínez, Research Engineer, 1999,
Mr. Ary Pizarro-Chong, NSERC UG Summer Scholar, 1999,
Mr. Martin St.-Jean, NSERC UG Summer Scholar, 1999,
Mr. Laurent Jabre, UG Student from Concordia University, 1999,
Mr. Khalid M. Al-Widyan, PhD student, 1999 - 2002,
Ms. Florence Bidault, Exchange Student from Ecole Centrale de Nantes, 2000,
Mr. Abeer Cohen, UG Student from Concordia University, 2000,
Ms. Lama Al Bassit, Exchange Student from Université de Paris 6, Pierre et Marie Curie, 2001,
Mr. Alex Krupnik, UG from McGill, 2001 - 2002,
Mr. Dushyant (Sunny) Basi, UG from McGill, 2001,
Mr. Salomon Zapata, UG from McGill, 2001 - 2002

Possible applications:
To service and maintain aircraft and space structures

• In error-tolerant tasks:
  - cleaning
  - brushing
• In accuracy-demanding tasks:
  - stripping
  - deicing
  - painting

Purposes of the prototype:
To demonstrate accurate positioning of the tool carried by the orientation submodule in the presence of vibrations of the base due to the flexibility of the gross manipulator.

Main Components of the System:
Proximal Module (Gross Manipulator),
Distal Module (Fine Manipulator):
       -Positioning Submodule (Cuatro Arm).
       -Orientation Submodule (Agile Wrist).

Preliminary Design of the Gross Manipulator

Design Specifications of the Gross Manipulator

Horizontal reach: 3,5 m Vertical reach: 2,5 m Gross-posing of the base of the Fine (Small) manipulator 4-dof SCARA-type positioning Two parallelogram mechanisms Always horizontal end-platform Differential-based driving mechanism High bending elasticity in the vertical and horizontal directions (5-10% of total reach) High torsional stiffness

Design Specification of the Cuatro Arm (Prototype)

4-dof serial manipulator Isotropic architecture Maximum positioning accuracy Links are rigid and shorter than those of the Gross Manipulator

Design Specifications of the Agile Wrist

Redesigned from the Agile Eye of Prof. C.M. Gosselin's Group, Université Laval

3-dof parallel manipulator Isotropic architecture Maximum orientation accuracy Load-carrying capacity: 5 kg

Files to Download

Agile Wrist Photos

For any comments/inquiries please contact: Dr.Alexei Morozov at