IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2015 - 44

Conclusions
This article presents the design and experimental testing of
the Kapvik robotic mast. By introducing a novel locking
mechanism, the robotic mast integrates the functions of a
conventional robotic mast and an onboard robotic arm.
Namely, the robotic mast can assist the microRover with
navigation and can be utilized for sample acquisition and
transfer for storage. The mechanism design of the robotic
mast and locking mechanism are elaborated. The electronic
system design and selection of sensors and actuators are
reported in detail. A multiple-mode control algorithm is proposed, which enables each joint of the robotic mast to work
in active position control mode or passive mode with friction
compensation. For the active-mode position control, both
the motor-side incremental encoder and load-side absolute
sensors are implemented to achieve accurate position control. With the developed passive-mode control algorithm, the
robotic mast can execute sophisticated operations, such as
touching ground, locking, and unlocking without generating
excessive internal forces. A prototype has been developed,
and experiments have been conducted to validate the proposed design and verify the developed algorithms.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Prof. Bingwei Zhang of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, P. R. China,
and Janet Li in mechanism design. We would also like to
thank Dr. Ian Sinclair and Dr. Alireza Nakhaei of MPB Communications Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for constructive discussions on the electronics design and software development, and Prof. Alex Ellery and Dr. Ala Qadi of the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for discussions on
mechanism design.
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Guangjun Liu, Ryerson University, Ontario, Canada.
E-mail: gjliu@ryerson.ca.
Yugang Liu, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E-mail:
yugang.liu@mail.utoronto.ca.
Hongwei Zhang, Ryerson University, Ontario, Canada.
E-mail: hongwei.zhang@ryerson.ca.
Xiaohui Gao, Ryerson University, Ontario, Canada. E-mail:
alyssa.gao@ryerson.ca.
Jing Yuan, Ryerson University, Ontario, Canada. E-mail:
Jing.Yuan@ryerson.ca.
Wanping Zheng, Canadian Space Agency, Quebec, Canada.
E-mail: wanping.zheng@asc-csa.gc.ca.
http://www.maxonmotor.com/ http://www.netzerprecision.com http://www.elmomc.com/products/elmo-digital-servo-drives-ExtrIQ.htm http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/ http://www.nasa.gov/missions/past/index.html http://www.mpb-space.com/web/mission_systems/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2015
