Design and analysis of a bio-inspired module-based robotic arm

Abstract. This paper presents a novel bio-inspired modular robotic arm that is purely evolved and developed from a mechanical stem cell. Inspired by stem cell whilst different from the other robot "cell" or "molecule", a fundamental mechanical stem cell is proposed leading to the development of mechanical cells, bones and a Sarrus-linkage-based muscle. Using the proposed bones and muscles, a bio-inspired modular-based five-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm is developed. Then, kinematics of the robotic arm is investigated which is associated with an optimization-method-based numerical iterative algorithm leading to the inverse kinematic solutions through solving the non-linear transcendental equations. Subsequently, numerical example of the proposed robotic arm is provided with simulations illustrating the workspace and inverse kinematics of the arm. Further, a prototype of the robotic arm is developed which is integrated with low-level control systems, and initial motion and manipulation tests are implemented. The results indicate that this novel robotic arm functions appropriately and has the virtues of lower cost, larger workspace, and a simpler structure with more compact size.