Robotic arm

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A robotic arm is a robot manipulator, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm. The links of such a manipulator are connected by joints allowing either rotational motion (such as in an articulated robot) or translational (linear) displacement. The links of the manipulator can be considered to form a kinematic chain. The business end of the kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the end effector and it is analogous to the human hand. The end effector can be designed to perform any desired task such as welding, gripping, spinning etc., depending on the application. For example robot arms in automotive assembly lines perform a variety of tasks such as welding and parts rotation and placement during assembly.

In space the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System also known as Canadarm or SSRMS and its successor Canadarm2 are examples of multi degree of freedom robotic arms that have been used to perform a variety of tasks such as inspections of the Space Shuttle using a specially deployed boom with cameras and sensors attached at the end effector and satellite deployment and retrieval manoeuvres from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle.

The robot arms can be autonomous or controlled manually and can be used to perform a variety of tasks with great accuracy.

The robotic arm can be fixed or mobile (i.e. wheeled) and can be designed for industrial or home applications.

For more information about Robotic arm, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with robotic arm

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Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Martian Water

Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Martian Water

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 31, 2008 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (88) | comments 22

(PhysOrg.com) -- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced ...


Phoenix Scrapes 'Almost Perfect' Icy Soil for Analysis

Phoenix Scrapes 'Almost Perfect' Icy Soil for Analysis

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 01, 2008 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (22) | comments 8

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged the "Snow White" trench and scraped up little piles of icy soil on Saturday, June 28, the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists say that the scrapings are ...


Phoenix Rasps Frozen Layer, Collects Sample

Phoenix Rasps Frozen Layer, Collects Sample

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 16, 2008 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (19) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander successfully drilled into the frozen soil and loosened material that was collected in the lander's scoop.


'Headless' Chosen for Attempt to Move a Martian Rock

Phoenix Lander Might Peek Under a Rock

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 22, 2008 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- If the robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander can nudge a rock aside today, scientists on the Phoenix team would like to see what's underneath.


Meteorite Found on Mars Yields Clues About Planet's Past

Meteorite Found on Mars Yields Clues About Planet's Past

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is investigating a metallic meteorite the size of a large watermelon that is providing researchers more details about the Red Planet's environmental history. ...


Mars Rover Yielding New Clues While Lodged in Martian Soil

Mars Rover Yielding New Clues While Lodged in Martian Soil

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 25, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars rover Spirit, lodged in Martian soil that is causing traction trouble, is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about the Red Planet's environmental history.


Phoenix Mars Lander Continues Tests With Rasp

Phoenix Mars Lander Continues Tests With Rasp

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 18, 2008 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander plans to tell the lander today to do a second, larger test of using a motorized rasp to produce and gather shavings of frozen ground.


Refurbished Hubble Space Telescope Ready to Resume Mission of Explorat

Refurbished Hubble Ready to Resume Exploration

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 19, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Hubble Space Telescope has been with us for nearly two decades. In that time, its breathtaking images have captured people’s imaginations and its groundbreaking science has revealed some ...


Phoenix Lander Finishes Soil Delivery to Onboard Labs

Phoenix Lander Finishes Soil Delivery to Onboard Labs

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 22, 2008 | popularity 4 / 5 (8) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has finished scooping soil samples to deliver to its onboard laboratories, and is now preparing to analyze samples already obtained. Scientists are anxious to analyze ...


One Mars Rover Sees a Distant Goal; The Other Takes a New Route

One Mars Rover Sees a Distant Goal; The Other Takes a New Route

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 18, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- On a plain that stretches for miles in every direction, the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has caught a first glimpse on the horizon of the uplifted rim of the big crater ...


Mars Rover Update

Mars Rover Update

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 26, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 5

In January 2004, NASA landed two identical robotic rovers named Spirit and Opportunity on the surface of Mars. The twins were primed for a brief 3-month mission to tell us a story of water and possibly life ...


Phoenix Close-Up Images of 'Snow Queen' Show Changes

Phoenix Close-Up Images of 'Snow Queen' Show Changes

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 30, 2008 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A distinctive hard-surface feature called "Snow Queen" beneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander visibly changed sometime between mid-June and mid-July, close-up images from the Robotic Arm Camera ...


Rover Confirms Meteorite on Mars

Rover Confirms Meteorite on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Composition measurements by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity confirm that this rock on the Martian surface is an iron-nickel meteorite.


Phoenix Mars Mission Faces Survival Challenges

Phoenix Mars Mission Faces Survival Challenges

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 29, 2008 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a race against time and the elements, engineers with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission hope to extend the lander's survival by gradually shutting down some of its instruments and heaters, ...


Phoenix Mars Lander Extending Trench

Phoenix Mars Lander Extending Trench

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 15, 2008 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (7) | comments 2

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is using its Robotic Arm to enlarge an exposure of hard subsurface material expected to yield a sample of ice-rich soil for analysis in one of the lander's ovens.