ADVANCED SERVO MANIPULATOR:

A MILESTONE IN REMOTE HANDLING TECHNOLOGY

K. Jayarajan, D.D. Ray and Manjit Singh

Division of Remote Handling and Robotics

Introduction Although, there are many mechanical master-slave

manipulator installations in various hotcells, only a few
Future nuclear installations would need a higher level of
servo manipulator installations exist in the department.
remotisation and automation, to improve their safety and
productivity. Plants using Thorium-based fuels introduce
ASM represents a new generation of servo manipulators
additional problems in remote handling, due to the
with force reflection capabilities available to the human
build-up of radioactivity in the U-232 decay chain. In
operator. The operator’s hand in the control station
such plants, operators can handle the material only behind
acquires the proportional force acting on the slave arm
thick shields, using reliable and advanced remote
in the hotcell. Force reflection makes remote operation
handling tools. In this context, we have recently
faster, safer and more accurate. Other major
developed an Advanced Servo Manipulator (ASM), based
enhancements of ASM over earlier designs include,
on in-house mechanical design and indigenous drives
reconfigurable arm structure, higher payload and digital
and controllers.
control. In ASM, we have provided advanced features in
control and user interface, using advancements in digital
A servo manipulator consists of two arms: the slave arm
microelectronics. Moreover, we have made it more flexible
and the master arm. There is no direct mechanical links
for future requirements.
connecting the master arm and the slave arm. The slave
arm is usually kept in the remote
hotcell and the master arm in the
control room. During operation,
as the operator holds and moves
the handgrip of the master arm,
the slave arm reproduces his hand
movements and performs the
necessary task in the remote area.

A servo manipulator can handle

heavy objects with less operator
effort. As mounting the slave arm
on a transporter augments its
operating range, a single pair of
servo manipulators is sufficient
to serve a large hotcell. It also
offers flexibility in equipment Fig. 1: Slave Arm of ASM

layout, within the hotcell.

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Development of ASM involves meeting many challenging It can also take a tabletop structure (like a robot), which
tasks in mechanical, electrical, electronics, control, can be mounted on a mobile platform. Mounting the
software and radiological areas. The slave arm located in slave arm on an overhead telescopic bridge crane,
the hotcell, needs to be highly reliable and made from increases the effective range of the slave arm.
radiation-tolerant and washable components. Placing
electronic components away from the slave arm is a
design challenge. ASM controls involve real-time control
of a non-linear, time-varying, multi-axis and coupled
system for position trajectory as well as force trajectory.
This article discusses important features and major sub-
systems of the ASM.

Mechanical Design

We have designed the master arm and the slave arm

kinematically similar to each other. The slave arm uses
only radiation resistant materials and components. Ball
bearings used in the slave arm are of stainless steel
material, filled with radiation-resistant grease. Electric Fig. 2: Joint axes and sub-assemblies of ASM

components used in the slave arm are radiation-resistant

and of IP65 class. Materials used ASM are of high strength
and lightweight.

Degrees of Freedom

For the end-effector to attain arbitrary position and

orientation, six independent motions are necessary for
any manipulator. In addition to the necessary six Degrees
Of Freedom (DOF), we have provided an additional
(optional) joint in the slave arm to increase its range. The
additional range may be necessary in certain hotcells,
where the manipulator has to approach areas beyond
cell crane hook. In addition to the six or seven joints,
arms have end-effectors. Fig. 2 shows the various axes
Fig. 3: Slave Arm in “Elbow-Down” configuration
and major sub-assemblies of the manipulator.

Manipulator Structure
Modular Design
The manipulator has articulated structure, with all revolute
joints. It can be configured as elbow-down or elbow-up It is easy to assemble or disassemble the manipulator
type, to suit the equipment layout in the hotcell. sub-assemblies for maintenance. The major modules of
Elbow-down configuration is similar to the human hand. the manipulator are base, upper arm, forearm, wrist and
Fig. 3 shows the slave arm in elbow-down configuration. gripper as shown in Fig. 2. The actuator assemblies of

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joints, consisting of motor, resolver, brake, gearbox and align itself to the job, in response to the constraints
potentiometer are also replaceable. Operator in the control imposed by the task.
station can replace the slave arm fingers, which are in
the hotcell. All major joints of the manipulator are mechanically
counterbalanced. Motors mounted near the base serve
Power Transmission as counterweights too.

Mechanical transmission elements transmit power from Wrist

motors to joints. The major consideration in deciding
motor locations and type of transmission linkages are ASM has a small wrist as compared to the size and weight
joint size, joint weight, inertia, joint angle range, friction, of the object it can handle. With a compact wrist, the
rigidity and position error. Mounting the motor near a manipulator can handle objects near a table, wall or other
joint, will increase joint size and make the approach to obstacles. Making a compact wrist is one of the difficult
task area difficult for the arm. It will also increase gravity tasks in manipulator design. The wrist has spur gear pairs,
and inertia loads of preceding motors. However, bevel gear pairs and a differential mechanism, to convert
mounting it away from a joint will increase flexibility, rotations of two parallel shafts into roll and pitch motions
position error and friction. It will also reduce the joint of the end-effector. Wrist also transmits mechanical power
range, due to the mechanical coupling among to actuate the end-effector.
transmission elements. Therefore, we have decided
actuator locations judiciously to optimize the above As we intend using the slave arm as a robot also, we
factors. designed its wrist as spherical type, whose orientation
axes all intersect at a point. This is a deviation from all
Flexible elements like tapes and ropes were used as mechanical master slave manipulators and servo
mechanical manipulators and previous model of servo manipulators. Existence of a closed inverse kinematic
manipulators was used for transmitting power between solution is essential for robot control and a spherical wrist
motor and joint. Although, they have lower size, inertia can meet this requirement.
and friction, their maintenance and replacement need
considerable plant downtime. Therefore, we have End-Effectors
designed ASM with rigid mechanical transmission
elements like spur gears, bevel gears, shafts and 4-bar ASM has two types of end-effectors: slave arm gripper
mechanisms. To improve force reflection characteristics, to hold objects in the remote area and the master arm
we have kept low the gear ratios in joints. handgrip to generate gripping command.

During operation, the master arm converts every The major challenge in gripper design is reduction of
movement of its handgrip into joint rotations. Moreever, gripper size and weight. The ability of the manipulator
it converts the torque generated by its motors into force to orient its gripper (dexterity) increases with decrease in
and torque at handgrip, for providing force reflection to gripper length. Moreover, the increase in gripper length
the operator. In the slave arm too, the conversion of is not desirable from load carrying capacity, position error
force and motion between the gripper and joints are and force reflection points of view. ASM gripper, which
bi-directional. Therefore, we have designed all mechanical can open upto 100 mm and handle a weight of 25 kg,
transmissions in master arm and the slave arm to be has a length of only 170 mm.
back drivable. Back-drivability also helps the slave arm to

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 controlled and sensed through the master handgrip. In
addition to this, the operator can feel and control the
gripping force and gripper opening of the slave arm
through the master handgrip.

The master arm and the slave arm have the same structure
and link lengths. The corresponding motors of the master
arm and slave arm are identical. The major difference
between the master and slave arms is in their end-effectors
Fig. 4: Wrist and Gripper of the Slave Arm and load-carrying capacities.

The gripper is parallel jaw type, whose contact surfaces

remain parallel, irrespective of their opening. For better
gripping, the contact surfaces are made from rubber.
They wear out easily by rubbing with other objects. Their
frequent contact with radioactive materials contaminates
them easily. As they need frequent maintenance, the jaws
are made to be remotely replaceable in the hotcell. Jaw
replacement also helps in handling odd shaped objects
with non-planar gripping surfaces.

To ensure firm gripping, we have provided a flexible

member in the transmission mechanism between the
motor and the gripper. It reduces the variations in gripping Fig. 5: Wrist and Handgrip of the Master Arm

force arising from factors like motor torque fluctuation.

Master Arm Gear ratios in the gearboxes of the master arm are so
decided, that the maximum joint torque is only one-third
Speed (task completion time), accuracy, ease of learning, of the corresponding slave joint torque. Reduction in
operator fatigue and joint coordination are the major friction and inertia, due to the lower gear ratios in master
factors deciding the usability of an input device. Input arm, reduce operator effort and give better force
devices of a computer, such as mouse or joystick, can reflection. Moreover, the resulting lower torque limit
control and coordinate two or three variables protects the human operator from any controller
simultaneously. However, a typical remote handling task, malfunction.
needs control of six configuration variables of the end-
effector. Therefore, we have designed a master arm as Actuators and Sensors
an input device for simultaneous control of six
configuration variables. Operator can sense as well as ASM uses brushless AC servomotors as mechanical power
control three components of force and three components sources. These are permanent magnet synchronous motors
of torque through the master arm. All these variables are with wound stator and permanent magnet rotor.

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The combination of an inner permanent magnet rotor We have used only radiation-tolerant motors, brakes,
and outer windings offer low rotor inertia, efficient heat sensors and cables in the manipulator. These are IP65
dissipation and reduction of motor size. Absence of rated, to enable decontamination of the entire slave arm
brushes reduces noise, EMI generation and eliminates by washing. We have used only shielded leads to reduce
the need of brush maintenance. These motors have good noise pickup from motor drives.
linear torque-current relationship, which is essential for
accurate force feedback to the operator. Motor selection Control System
is standardized such that, only motors with three ratings
are used in the manipulator, out of the 16 motors in the The Advanced Servo-Manipulator Controller (ASMC) is
manipulator. based on distributed digital control. Compared to an
analogue control system, a digital system has more
Between trapezoidal and sinusoidal types of motors, we flexibility, long-term stability and less cable handling
have selected sinusoidal type for our application. Space- problems.
vector modulation technique creates the sinusoidal
voltage waveform applied to the motors. As sinusoidal ASMC consists of operator interface, co-ordination
currents drive sinusoidal motors, torque ripple is computer, joint controller and servo drives. Fig. 6 shows
eliminated. For real time control of torque and speed, the architecture of the control system. The coordination
Field Oriented Control algorithm is used. As this method computer communicates with joint controllers on a
is accurate in both steady-state and transient mode of shared RS485 serial communication link, while the joint
operations, over sizing of power module was not controller communicates with the corresponding master
necessary. The transient currents are continuously and slave servo drives over dedicated RS422 links.
controlled in amplitude.
ASMC provides the following functionality:
The motor has an inbuilt resolver to sense its rotor position. 1. Master slave follower
The drive card converts the analogue resolver signal into 2. Force reflection to the master arm
logic pulses. These are used for electronically switching 3. Indexing of joints
the stator windings in proper sequence to maintain 4. Brake operation
rotation of the magnet assembly. The servo control loop 5. Torque limiting
also uses the resolver signal for position feedback. As the 6. Artificial force reflection
resolvers take multiple turns within the joint range, they 7. Status reporting
alone cannot provide absolute joint angles. Multi-turn 8. Fault protection.
potentiometers mounted on the joints provide absolute
initial joint angle, which is used for initializing the absolute Compared to a centralized processing system, a distributed
resolver output. system reduces individual unit processing requirements.
It also supports high update rate and large number of
All motors are integrated with failsafe brakes. Operator input-output signals required by each servo loop. In
can apply brake to all joints to hold the manipulator in addition to this, it is less vulnerable to total system failure.
position. During power failures, the brakes prevent It also needs less software maintenance.
uncontrolled joint movement and retain the held object
in position. Other malfunctions also result in automated All master servo drive hardware and software are identical.
application of brakes. Likewise, all slave servo drive hardware and software are
identical. DIP switch settings configure them for respective

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 joints. Common
software across drives /
joint controller reduces
the amount of software.

The architecture allows

the necessary quick data
transfer between the
master drive and the
slave drive. Data
sampling, control and
Fig. 6: Control System Architecture information transfer are
accomplished in real
time.

A rack mounts all ASMC components. Radiation-tolerant

cables connect ASMC to the motor and sensors. The
length of cable connecting the control cabinet and the
slave arm can be up to 100 m.

Servo Drive

Each joint of the manipulator arm is driven by a separate

servomotor and drive. There are 16 drives for eight pairs
of master-slave motors in the system. Each servo drive
collects data and controls the corresponding joint. The
power section of the drive is based on integrated power
module. The current and velocity loops of the servo
control are implemented using a commercially available
servo control IC. The position loop and drive control
software are implemented on cygnal 8051F120. The servo
control IC allows the user to configure different types of
motors, position feedback devices and communication
protocols. The system also allows feed forward control,
in addition to existing PI control. Fig. 8 shows the internal
block diagram of the drive.

The manipulator joints do not have encoder, but their

motors have inbuilt resolvers for position feedback. As
the servo controller IC accepts only encoder input, IC
Fig. 7: Control Cabinet of ASM AD2S80 does the necessary resolver to incremental
encoder signal conversion. The incremental encoder

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signals update a 32-bit counter inside the
servo controller IC and this count is later
converted to joint angle.

AD2S80 provides only the position of the

motor shaft and not the necessary joint
position. To get the initial position of the
joint, signals from the joint potentiometer
are fed into the micro-controller. This initial
position is loaded as the initial count into
the 32-bit counter. Fig.9 shows the block
diagram of the servo control.
Fig. 8: Servo Drive
The overall specification of the drive is
presented below:
Joint Controller

Position loop update rate 500 Hz ASMC has eight joint controllers, one for each master-
Velocity loop update rate 5/10 KHz slave joint pair of the manipulators. A joint controller
Current loop computation time 6 μs exchanges information between the servo drives of the
PWM Carrier frequency 70 kHz corresponding joints, in real time. In addition to this, it
Continuous output current 5 A (750 W) supports indexing, joint alignment, brake control and
Overload output current 15 A fault protection. Fig. 10 shows the hardware block
Max. RS232C speed 115.2 kbps diagram of the joint controller.

Fig. 9: Servo Control Loop

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 Similarly, it provides required
position and velocity to the slave
drive. It also updates the status and
limits of position, velocity and torque
of the joint from the slave drive.

Coordinating Computer

Fig. 10: Joint Controller

We have used an industrial PC based
on Pentium processor as coordinating
computer in the ASMC. The PC uses
RS422 port to communicate with the
The processor on board is cygnal 8051F120 running at operator keyboard and optic fibre cable to communicate
55 MHz. This processor is different from the processor with joint controllers. The computer controls all the master
on the servo drive board. The processor was selected on and slave joint controllers.
the basis of the control requirements, high integration of
peripheral components like timers, UART, ease of Operator Interface
developing software using ‘C’ language and JTAG-based
debugging capabilities. As the processor has pipelined As described earlier, the master arm is the major operator
architecture and is running at 55 MHz, i.e. 55 times interface in ASM, which can input (position) and output
faster than the regular 8051, the traditional MIPS constraint (force) six variables in coordination. Operator uses its
(1MIPS) could be overcome. All these MIPS are available,
just for one joint controller, and we have eight joint-
controllers. When we implement robot mode in ASM,
the Spartan IIE FPGA on board will act as a co-processor
to the 8051F120.

A joint controller communicates with the coordinating

PC and corresponding master and slave drives. Parameters
are updated to the drives once in every 16 mSec.

From the PC, it gets limits for position, speed and torque;
gain factors for position and speed; operator applied brake
status and indexing position. It provides positions, speed
and torque of joints; motor brake status; motor
temperature status (hot/ cold) and drive fault status to
the PC for display and diagnostic purposes.

From the master drive, it gets position and speed of the

joint. It updates the drive with reflecting torque and limits
for position, speed and torque. Fig. 11: Keypad in the Master Handgrip

Issue no. 283 August 2007 9

handgrip for control of gripper opening and closing, to the position errors to stabilize the control system.
sensing the gripping force and applying the required force. Fig. 9 shows the closed loop control for the same.

A keypad is mounted on the master handgrip. It has keys Gains of each joint controller are separately tuned, to
for selecting force reflection ratio and torque limits. achieve accurate and stable trajectory, following the slave
Operator can select a joint for indexing and start indexing joint with respect to that of the corresponding master
motions in forward or reverse direction. Toggle keys are joint. Fig. 12 shows the typical trajectory of slave motor
provided for applying/releasing brake on all joints and with reference to the master input.
locking/unlocking the slave gripper. Operator can use the
keypad with his thumb, while holding the handgrip.

Operator uses the PC during the startup of the system.

The PC displays the joint variables of the master and slave,
status of the settings and error conditions, if any. The
administrator uses it for setting the control parameters.
Sound alarm also indicates the status of the system.

Like other servo manipulator systems, here also CCTV

cameras will be used for visual feedback of the remote
environment.
Fig. 12: Master Slave Follower
Master Slave Operation

During master slave manipulation, operator holds and

moves the master handgrip. The slave gripper, which is
Gripper operation involves closing and opening the
in the remote area, follows the movement of the master
gripper and applying the necessary gripping force. Though
handgrip doing the necessary tasks.
it involves position control as well as force control, we
use the gripper controller identical to that of other joints.
The mechanical design of the manipulator is such that,
During gripping, as the operator closes the handgrip,
when all joint angles of the slave arm match with those
the slave fingers move and touch the object. Further
of the corresponding master arm, their end-effectors will
closing of the handgrip will increase position error, as
also match with their configurations. Therefore, the
the object surface restricts further movement of slave
primary role of the controller is to match the angles of all
fingers. As the force generated is proportional to the
the slave joints to corresponding master angles, at every
position error, operator can control the gripping force by
instant.
controlling the handgrip opening.

As the operator moves the handgrip, position sensors Advanced Features

(resolvers) mounted on the joints sense the master
configuration. The controller computes the instantaneous The total digital control system used in ASM provides
errors between corresponding joint angles of the master flexibility in control and user interface. A description of
and slave, converts them into a set of currents and applies some of the advanced features implemented in ASM
them to the slave motors. Velocity errors are also added follows.

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Force Reflection on the corresponding master motor, after necessary
scaling, filtering and compensation. The direction of the
ASM is a bilateral manipulator, which allows the force torque generated at the master motor is opposite to that
acting on the slave gripper to be reflected on the operator’s applied on the corresponding slave motor. The Master
hand. Force reflection makes the operator aware of any arm converts the motor torques into force and torque of
resistance in movement, provides a feeling of the load handgrip, providing force feedback to the operator, who
being handled and helps him to control the applied force. is holding the handgrip. Operator can change the Force
It prevents the operator from unknowingly applying Reflection Ratio (FRR), which is the ratio of the force
damaging forces to the object being handled, to the reflected on the operator’s hand to that acting on the
nearby objects or to the manipulator itself. Ability to feel slave end effector, from zero to one. Fig. 13 shows the
and control the applied force helps the operator to perform implementation of bilateral control in ASM.
the task faster and more accurately. It is an inherent
property of mechanical manipulators, that no significant Friction in motors, brakes, gears and mechanical
loss of mechanical power or motion occurs, in their transmission elements increase operator effort in handling
transmissions between the master and slave. However, the manipulator. We have implemented a friction
implementation of force reflection is a difficult task for compensation scheme to reduce the effects of friction.
servo manipulators. Fig. 14 shows the applied master current and measured
slave current of ASM. Initially FRR is 0 and no current is
In ASM, we have provided motors in the master joints applied to the master. FRR is 0.5 in the second part.
also to generate force. These motors operate in the torque
control mode. As it is difficult to use force sensor in Indexing
radiation environment, the slave motor current (which is
proportional to the slave motor torque) is taken as an In ASM, the range of the slave arm is more than that of
indication of slave load. The slave motor current is applied the human arm. We have provided indexing motions to

Fig. 13: Bilateral Control of Manipulator

Issue no. 283 August 2007 11

 Fig. 14: Slave Joint Current and
Reflected Master Current

the positioning axes, to use their entire range effectively.

In indexing mode, an operator can rotate selected slave
joints, without rotating their corresponding master joints.
Indexing also helps the operator to control the manipulator
sitting in a comfortable posture.

The Operator can select the joint for indexing and

command the joint to move in the desired direction Fig. 15: ASM handling a glass flask.
ASM can handle objects weighing upto 25 kg.
through the handgrip keypad. After indexing, though It can also handle delicate object safely,
there will be a mismatch between the master and slave using force control and force limit
joint angles, operator can continue master slave operation
in the mismatched positions.

Torque Limit tries to move the corresponding master joint. A sound

alarm indicates whether any joint of the master arm or
ASM can handle 25 kg load (Fig. 15). However, to protect slave arm has reached its limit.
the manipulator and nearby objects during accidental
collisions, it is desirable to operate it at a lower capacity. In the force reflection mode, when a master or slave
The operator has an option of limiting the manipulator joint approaches its limit, the operator gets a repelling
capacity to a specified load using the handgrip keypad. force on his hand, resisting him from moving closer to
Only when the manipulator fails to handle the object the limit. It helps in preventing internal collision of
that he needs to increase the torque limit. This feature is manipulator parts. Other undesirable conditions, like large
also useful in handling fragile and delicate objects. position error, also result in a repelling force to the
operator.
Soft Joint Limits and Artificial Force Reflection
Conclusion
The master arm and the slave arm can have independent
joint limits and their complex workspaces are modelled Development of the Advanced Servo Manipulator has
in the computer. The joint limit settings will prevent slave been completed and the manipulator is available for
joint to move beyond the set limits, even if the operator demonstration. The digitally controlled manipulator has

12 Issue no. 283 August 2007

force reflection and other advanced capabilities.
The development strategy was based on in-house
mechanical design and indigenous control hardware
and software.

To enhance its performance further, we will be providing

features like motion scaling and compensation for
manipulator dynamics to ASM. We are also planning to
use ASM in telerobot mode, where the slave can perform
autonomous operations without operator assistance.

We have taken up the development of Four-Piece Servo

Manipulator (4PSM) from this core technology.
Conventional servomanipulators need hotcells specifically
designed for their installation. However, we can install
4PSM in conventional hotcells, which were designed for
mechanical manipulators. It will be more operator-friendly
than the conventional mechanical manipulators. We are
also developing other servo manipulator systems,
including a miniature servo manipulator and a surgical
robot.

We have developed ASM with flexible and expandable

features, for ease in enhancement and customization to
meet user requirements. The indigenous technology has
laid a foundation on which we can develop many
advanced robotic systems in future.

General Specifications
 Degrees of freedom: 6 (+1 optional)
 Payload: 25 kg (at all positions)
 Maximum reach: 1.2 m
 Gripper opening: 100 mm
 Force reflection ratio: 0 to 1.0,
subjected to a maximum force of 8 kg

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