Mechanism design and performance analysis of a novel truss-shaped deployable manipulator

To grasp various non-cooperative objects in space, this paper develops a novel truss-shaped deployable manipulator with double scissor-shaped mechanisms, which consists of multi-fingers and a single-mobility base mechanism. To enhance its scalability, the modular design idea is used in the design of the finger, the workspace of the deployable manipulator can thus be adjusted by the number of finger modules according to actual requirement. Besides, the double scissor-shaped mechanisms offer a good deploy/fold ratio for the deployable manipulator, which provides convenience for transportation and storage. More importantly, a good deploy/fold ratio ensures a large workspace for grasping tasks. In addition, unique design of the single-mobility base mechanism further optimizes deploy/fold performance, the driver design can also be simplified while the initial grasping angle can be effectively formed. In the specific content, design of the deployable manipulator is first detailed illustrated. Then, the performance analysis is performed to obtain the kinematic index. In addition, grasping analysis and simulation is carried out, which effectively validates grasping performance, the result shows that the deployable manipulator has a good grasping adaptability, and many objects with different sizes and shapes can be effectively grasped.