The mass balancing of robotic manipulators has been shown to have favorable effects on the dynamic characteristics. In actual practice, however, since conventional manipulators have flexibility at their joints, the improved dynamic properties obtainable for rigid manipulators may be influenced by those joint flexibilities. This paper investigates the effects of the joint flexibility on the dynamic properties and the controlled performance of a balanced robotic manipulator. The natural frequency distribution and damping characteristics were investigated through frequency response analyses. To evaluate the dynamic performance a series of simulation studies of the open loop dynamics were made for various trajectories, operating velocities, and joint stiffnesses. These simulations were also carried out for the balanced manipulator with a PD controller built-in inside motor control loop. The results show that, at low speed, the joint flexibility nearly does not influence the performance of the balanced manipulator, but at high speed it tends to render the balanced manipulator susceptible to vibratory motion and yields large joint deformation error.

When an object is held by a multi-fingered hand, the values of the contact forces can be multivalued. An objective function, when used in conjunction with the frictional and geometric constraints of the grasp, can however, give a unique set of finger force values. The selection of the objective function in determining the finger forces is dependent on the type of grasp required, the material properties of the object, and the limitations of the röbot fingers. In this paper several optimization functions are studied and their merits highlighted. The paper introduces a graphical representation of the finger force values and the objective functions that enable one to select and compare various grasping configurations. The impending motion of the object at different torque and finger force values are determined by observing the normalized coefficient of friction plots.

The dynamics of a mechanical manipulator have the inherent characteristics of being highly non-linear and strongly coupled due to the interaction of the inertial, centripetal, coriolis and gravitational forces.

These characteristics produce difficulties in predicting the dynamic behaviour of a given manipulator's structure. These interactive forces depend largely on the geometrical configuration and operational conditions of a manipulator. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the dynamics behaviour under different conditions in order to obtain an optimal design.

This paper presents a study of the dynamics behaviour of a robot's arm with particular reference to the mechanical manipulator being designed by the AEAC. A computer software package has been developed to facilitate the investigation of the potential dynamics behaviour of a robot's arm and provides the designer with useful information for the real time control of high performance robots. This package also enables the designer to closely monitor the implications of his design.

The software of this package is based on the Lagrangian model, taking advantage of the recursive formulation. A brief description of the types of velocity trajectories used in this study is also included in this paper.

The software for the modelling was written in FORTRAN 77 in single precision and run on a UNIVAC operating system.

With the recent advances of VLSI technology, it has become possible to realize parallel architectures for image processing which are more efficient than the customary sequential processors. The paper discusses general architectural requirements for parallel processing and then the existing systems architectures. This is followed by a description of VLSI devices for image processing in three examples. The paper emphasizes VLSI architectures for image feature extraction, classification and structure (syntax) analysis.