Kinematic Synthesis of a Tendon-Driven 4R Planar Robotic Arm

This paper deals with the kinematic synthesis of a tendon-driven 4R planar robotic arm with 4-d.o.f.s and thus, two times redundant, which behavior is that of a deployable mechanism with wide workspace and small volume, when fully closed. The kinematic synthesis of the proposed 4R planar robotic arm has been developed by superposing three tendon-driven kinematic chains, in order to operate by means of a remote actuation, the last three links, since the first link is actuated directly. Moreover, a suitable algorithm has been formulated to operate the proposed 4R robotic arm in order to reach a given target point within the working area, as well as, to move inside a narrow environment in order to get a given configuration of the robotic arm. Examples are reported to simulate and test the working of the proposed robotic arm in different operating conditions.