Configuration-independent kinematics for modular mobile manipulators

Abstract

A modular mobile manipulator system consists of standardized joint and wheel modules that can be assembled into a number of different robot configurations. This paper mainly focuses on the formulation of configuration-independent kinematics algorithms for modular mobile manipulators. Based on the design of various types of modules, a modified Assembly Incidence Matrix (AIM) is proposed to represent the modular mobile manipulators configurations. The local frame representation of POE (Product of Exponentials) formula is employed to automatically generate the kinematic models for a given mobile manipulator based on its AIM.