Manipulator equipped with counterbalance mechanism based on gear unit

Abstract

Industrial manipulators are usually heavy given the payloads they carry. Therefore, they require highcapacity servomotors and speed reducers, which leads to high costs. However, if manipulator weight could be compensated for using a counterbalance mechanism, the motors' and speed reducers' capacities could be minimized substantially. However, it is usually difficult to assure durability and reliability with the conventional wire-based counterbalance mechanism. Therefore, a more robust gear- and roller-based counterbalance mechanism is proposed in this study. A manipulator was developed using this mechanism; this manipulator maintains its performance even when using motors and reducers of lower capacities. The results of various simulations and experiments verified that the proposed mechanism provides the torque required to compensate for gravitational torque in any configuration and minimizes the torque required for supporting a large payload. © 2013 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.