Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology alumnus Dr Sunveer Matadin has invented a kinematic robotic arm that provides six degrees of freedom.

Dr Matadin says his work on the robotic arm involved the conceptualising, design and development of a hybrid robotic architecture for a robotic arm manipulator along with the associated control algorithms. Of equal importance was the requirement to assess and evaluate the system using mathematical techniques, simulations as well as data produced by a physical scaled-down model in order to verify the correct operation and performance of the system.

The architecture and control algorithms of the high agility, six degree of freedom hybrid serial-parallel kinematic robotic arm leverages off the benefits of serial and parallel kinematic machines, while minimising the disadvantages of each. The premise of the design is based on the transmission of mechanical power via embedded drivetrains to each joint in the system from actuators that remain stationary in the base. “This promotes a lightweight structure with greater stiffness, stability and dynamic performance while still offering high agility, a low footprint to end-effector reach ratio and a near spherical work envelope.  Although the concept was applied to an industrial robotic arm for the study, this concept can also be applied to, and implemented in robotic exoskeletons and robotic prosthetics,” says Dr Matadin.

“With this invention, I hope to introduce a robotic system that is lightweight, stiff, providing good dynamic performance and reach while also lending itself to being reconfigurable and low cost due to reduced actuator requirements.” He says this can be demonstrated in an industrial robot application and can easily be extended to exoskeletons and prosthesis that are meant to replace missing or diminishing ability at a lower cost, compared to the present offerings on the market.

“The possibility of lower-cost systems both for industrial robotics, which is critical for small business, and for human wearable robotics makes technology accessible to all that need it and not only to those that can afford it. This, I believe is very important for engineers, scientists, inventors and makers to focus on,” he adds.

Dr Matadin holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, specialising in Robotics, and currently works in the transport industry as a Principal Engineer. He believes that one cannot sit back and let one’s qualification and institution speak to their abilities. “As alumni, it is our responsibility to constantly excel to further the reputation of the institution such that future graduates are also considered as quality professionals. Alumni are also well placed to mentor, guide, support and motivate.”

Asked how the arm can be connected to a human, Dr Matadin said if implemented as an exoskeleton, traditional mounting methods will apply where each movable link in the exoskeleton is strapped to the associated part of the human anatomy that it is required to power. With regard to prosthesis applications, the robotic prosthetic will also be attached to the body using traditional methods.

He noted that this was not a smooth journey as it took much of his time to come up with the final product. He says the conceptualisation and design phase took the majority of the time as the problem had to be understood well before a concept could be chosen from the various options that emerged in the ideation phase. Multiple refinement iterations of the most promising concepts then needed to be tested before the final concept could be confirmed. Following this, the design phase which involved various iterations produced a design of a robot link structure that was 3D printed using polylactic acid. A set of meshing gears for the power transmission between the second and third links was also 3D printed, but all the remaining gears were standard off-the-shelf nylon gears. The hollow concentric shafts were all steel. The design was then analysed physically, mathematically and in a simulation environment to assess the mechanical performance, as well as the correctness of the designed control algorithms that are responsible for the motions of each link and end poses.

Apart from his latest robotic arm invention, Dr Matadin has produced other novel systems and products, ranging from purely engineering and automation-related developments to production monitoring systems and banking products, among other inventions.

He says it is important for budding inventors to note that innovation and creativity requires pushing the boundaries of possibility and then testing against practicality. Doing it the other way around limits you only to what you know or what you think is possible and blinds you to what could be.