Articulated Working Arm Control for Stable Vertical Lifting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile devices, such as tractors and forklifts, are limited in their ability to efficiently combine vertical and horizontal lifting movements while maintaining load stability and energy recovery, particularly in complex kinematic configurations.
Innovation Solution
A mobile device with a frame and working arm featuring multiple articulations and a control system that allows for precise control of these articulations to maintain tool position during upward and downward movements, combined with energy recovery mechanisms from radial movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a mobile device uses radial lifting movement (wheel loader type), then horizontal reach and digging capability are improved, but vertical lifting height and load capacity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The working arm is divided into multiple articulated segments (first articulation, second articulation) that can move independently. This segmentation allows the system to combine radial movement for horizontal reach with vertical movement components, achieving both long horizontal reach and sufficient vertical lifting capacity that neither configuration could achieve alone.
2Force
If a mobile device uses vertical lifting movement (forklift type), then vertical lifting height and load capacity are improved, but horizontal reach and versatility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically adjusts the movement of each articulation segment based on the desired tool position. The first and second articulations can move simultaneously in varying proportions, allowing the tool to follow complex three-dimensional paths including vertical, horizontal, and diagonal trajectories, providing forklift-like vertical capacity with wheel loader-like versatility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple articulations are controlled independently, then movement flexibility is improved, but control complexity and coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control system receives feedback on the positions of the first and second articulations and automatically calculates the coordinated movements needed to maintain the tool at the desired position. This feedback mechanism simplifies operator input while achieving complex coordinated motion that would be difficult to manual-coordinate.
4Loss of energy
If energy recovery mechanisms are added to radial movement systems, then energy efficiency is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures energy that would otherwise be lost during the radial movement of the working arm. By installing energy recovery mechanisms on the articulations, the system converts the kinetic energy from outward radial movement and the potential energy from downward movement into usable energy, turning what would be waste into a resource that offsets system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Mobile device includes a frame with displacement means, a working arm connected to the frame including at least a first and a second articulation which are hinged to each other. The working arm is hinged to the frame, and at least a first, second and third control devices are adapted for moving the first and second articulation of the working arm and a tool, respectively, at a free end of the second articulation. A control system is adapted for controlling the first, second and third control means. The control system is adapted to drive the first, second and third control means such that the free end of the second articulation follows a predetermined upward movement along an upwardly directed path and the tool remains in a lifting position, the first, second and third control means are simultaneously controlled.