Development of a 2 degrees of freedom tracking system: design and fabrication of platform

Abstract

This paper reports the design and fabrication of an innovative 2-DOF robotic platform for precision pointing and image-based tracking applications. Conventionally, such platforms have very simple structures but have various associated limitations. One such problem is the generally imbalanced structure due to the placement of the elevation actuator on moving base. This design causes a lot of problems when platform is operated at high angular velocities. This paper, however, proposes a new design that is balanced in structure and very light due to placement of both actuators in the stationary base, hence finding its applications in high speed tracking problems. This thing in return has caused coupling between the two degrees of freedom. However, it is a kinematics problem and can be resolved easily in the control algorithm.