Optimization design of gravity compensation system for a 5-DOF articulated heavy-duty robot

Spring loaded balance system is a common method for designing the gravity compensation system of heavy-duty robot. In the design process of this system, the relevant parameters of the spring itself and spring loaded balance system's installation position parameter have a great impact on the final compensation effect. This paper introduces a parameters optimization design method of heavy-duty robot's spring loaded balance system. Based on the dynamics equation of heavy-duty robot, we built a mathematical model of the balanced joint with spring loaded balance system. The torque of balanced joint in this model and the relevant parameters of spring loaded balance system are the optimization goal and the optimization parameters relatively. Then we obtained the optimization result of spring loaded balance system's parameters using optimization toolbox of MATLB. By the above method, we designed and optimized the spring loaded balance system of a 5-DOF articulated heavy-duty robot. Through the comparison of the result calculated by MATLB, the optimized spring loaded balance system greatly reduces the torque of balanced joint and the consumption of joint drive. Meanwhile, by this method, the optimized spring loaded balance system maximally improves the dynamic performance and service life of the heavy-duty robot.