
Take a closer look at our new robotic arm design,
and you’ll notice that our second motor has
moved and is now mounted right next to our
first motor. This configuration has both motors
placed at the base of the arm. The “elbows” of
the system (the joints between links 1 and 2 and
links 3 and 4) still bend but cannot change their
own angle, which is determined by the angle of
the two actuators at the base of the robot. These
two elbow joints are what we call passive joints.
They still bend, but only in reaction to other
forces, such as the force of the electric motors
acting as actuators at the base of the robot.
Though this design is a lot mor ...