DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL TWO DOF HYDRAULLACALY ACTUATED SPHERICAL ACTUATOR FOR SNAKE ARM ROBOTS l

Abstract

Snake –arm robots are increasingly becoming popular because of their increasing importance in access related problems. The design of an actuator with high power density, large work space, large joint space, compact size, small weight is critical for the performance of a snake-arm robot and is subject of present research. Different type of actuators have been developed i.e. electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, piezoelectric etc. Electric motors are most common of them. Hydraulic actuators have the highest power density with at least ten times more power dense as compared to electric motors. But they are prone to leakage and are difficult to design in compact size and high accessibility. This paper focuses a novel design which skillfully utilizes the high power density of hydraulics, in a compact size without sacrificing the accessibility of the actuator. A two DOF hydraulically actuated spherical shape actuator has been designed. The said design was manufactured to verify the perceived motions. Important parameters were identified and different relations between them were established .Potential problems, there solutions and future recommendations regarding improvement of the design are discussed.