The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamic behavior of a planar 2R manipulator which is composed of flexible links and joints having gear backlash.
An analytical method based on Lagrangian formulation is used to derive the equation of motion of 2R flexible manipulator and thereafter a spur gear model considering backlash is attached to each link. Then the mechanical behavior of the manipulator including the residual vibration of the end effector is calculated for the commanded joint motion profiles. Here, it is assumed that the joint flexibility and damping effect exist only at the reduction gears, which are prevalent to industrial robots.
From the results of the analysis, it is found that the effect of the gear backlash is comparable to the link flexibility regarding residual vibrations, maximum contact force and gear backlash for the manipulator studied here.
