Part

Mechanism

You might say: the body, arm and base, kinematic chain, flexible arm, tentacle arm, trunk arm

A mechanism is a connected set of links and joints. In most robots the links are rigid; a continuum arm bends along a flexible backbone instead. Its geometry limits reach, dexterity, payload and stiffness before software begins.

What it does

It defines the robot's possible configurations and motions.

Ask

Can the mechanism reach every required pose while carrying the load?

What to look for

1. Connected links and joints
2. Rigid links or a flexible backbone
3. Reach, dexterity, payload and stiffness set by geometry

Parts

• Robot arm (manipulator): A robot arm positions a tool or hand through a moving structure.
• Links and joints: Links are rigid bodies.
• Degrees of freedom: Degrees of freedom (DoF) are the independent coordinates needed to describe a configuration.
• Workspace and payload: Workspace is the set of tool poses the mechanism can reach.
• Kinematics: Kinematics describes motion geometry without forces.
• End effector: An end effector is the tool at the end of the arm that contacts the world, such as a gripper, suction tool or process tool.
• Drive base: A drive base produces the robot's gross motion with wheels, legs or rotors.

Catalogue: Body

• Rigid link chain: Rigid links joined by joints, each joint adding a known motion. Most arms, from industrial robots to hobby servo arms, are built this way.
• Continuum arm (snake arm): A continuum arm bends along its whole length, like a trunk or a tentacle. In a tendon-driven continuum robot (TDCR), tendons run through discs on a flexible backbone; pulling one tendon while releasing the opposite one bends the segment. The simple constant-curvature model treats each segment as one arc and ignores the backbone's elasticity, loads and gravity.

Sources

1. Kevin M. Lynch and Frank C. Park, Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control, Ch. 2 §§2.1–2.5; Ch. 4Basically, a mechanism is constructed by connecting rigid bodies, called links, together by means of joints, so that relative motion between adjacent links becomes possible.
2. Jessica Burgner-Kahrs, Continuum Robotics 101, DefinitionContinuum robots do not contain rigid links and identifiable rotational joints. Instead the structures bend continuously along their length via elastic deformation and produce motion through the generation of smooth curves, similar to tentacles or tongues of the animal kingdom.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Mechanism" (mechanism) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/robotics/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

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