Research Projects

The research aims to explore the potential use of natural fiber composites in complex-shaped lightweight robotic manipulators, manufactured using 3D printing technology. The use of lightweight manipulators is in high demand due to their ability to reduce power consumption and payload to weight ratio, but their increased flexibility affects end point positioning accuracy and settling time, making them less reliable for high precision and high-speed applications. The study aims to investigate the use of different types of natural fiber composites in manufacturing these manipulators, with the hypothesis that adding different natural fibers and fillers in manufacturing can increase vibration and mechanical properties. Optimizing the ply stacking sequence can improve vibration control, and residual vibration reduction of LWM decreases for smaller deceleration periods for higher natural frequency manipulators, making them more suitable for high precision applications. The research will focus on vibration control analysis of a complex-shaped robotic manipulator by varying the input velocity profile, motion time, and changing the ply stacking sequence to produce minimum vibration and maximum productivity. The study will involve transient vibration analysis and modal analysis of the robotic manipulator with different input velocity profile combinations using both numerical and experimental methods.