Search

To obtain better flexibility and multifunction in varying practical applications, several typical configurations of a modular reconfigurable cable-driven parallel robot are analyzed in this article. The spatial topology of the modular reconfigurable cable-driven parallel robot can be reconfigured by manually detaching or attaching the different number of modular branches as well as changing the connection points on the end-effector to satisfy diverse task requirements. The structure design of the modular reconfigurable cable-driven parallel robot is depicted in detail, including the design methodology, mechanical description, and control architecture. The inverse kinematics and dynamics of the modular reconfigurable cable-driven parallel robot considering diverse configurations are derived according to the vector closed rule and Lagrange method, respectively. The numerical simulation and related experiments of a typical configuration are achieved and analyzed. The results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the inverse kinematics and dynamics models for the modular reconfigurable cable-driven parallel robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been greatly developed in the last decade and gradually applied in the construction, medical, and manufacturing industries. However, limited workspace and accuracy restrict the development of 3D printing technology. Due to the extension range and flexibility of cables, cable-driven parallel robots can be applied in challenging tasks that require motion with large reachable workspace and better flexibility. In this paper, a cable-driven parallel robot for 3D Printing is developed to obtain larger workspace rather than traditional 3D printing devices. A kinematic calibration method is proposed based on cable length residuals. On the basis of the kinematic model of the cable-driven parallel robot for 3D Printing, the mapping model is established among geometric structure errors, zero errors of the cable length, and end-effector position errors. In order to improve the efficiency of calibration measurement, an optimal scheme for measurement positions is proposed. The accuracy and efficiency of the kinematics calibration method are verified through numerical simulation. The calibration experiment based on the motion capture system indicates that the position error of end-effector is decreased to 0.6157 mm after calibration. In addition, the proposed calibration method is effective and verified for measurement positions outside optimal positions set through experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to transport materials flexibly and smoothly in a tight plant environment, an omni-directional mobile robot based on four Mecanum wheels was designed. The mechanical system of the mobile robot is made up of three separable layers so as to simplify its combination and reorganization. Each modularized wheel was installed on a vertical suspension mechanism, which ensures the moving stability and keeps the distances of four wheels invariable. The control system consists of two-level controllers that implement motion control and multi-sensor data processing, respectively. In order to make the mobile robot navigate in an unknown semi-structured indoor environment, the data from a Kinect visual sensor and four wheel encoders were fused to localize the mobile robot using an extended Kalman filter with specific processing. Finally, the mobile robot was integrated in an intelligent manufacturing system for material conveying. Experimental results show that the omni-directional mobile robot can move stably and autonomously in an indoor environment and in industrial fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a waist rehabilitation robot driven by cables and pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) has been conceptualized and designed. In the process of mechanism design, the human body structure, the waist movement characteristics, and the actuators' driving characteristics are the main considerable factors to make the hybrid-driven waist rehabilitation robot (HWRR) cost-effective, safe, flexible, and well-adapted. A variety of sensors are chosen to measure the position and orientation of the recovery patient to ensure patient safety at the same time as the structure design. According to the structure specialty and function, the HWRR is divided into two independent parallel robots: the waist twist device and the lower limb traction device. Then these two devices are analyzed and evaluated, respectively. Considering the characters of the human body in the HWRR, the inverse kinematics and statics are studied when the waist and the lower limb are considered as a spring and link, respectively. Based on the inverse kinematics and statics, the effect of the contraction parameter of the PAM is considered in the optimization of the waist twist device, and the lower limb traction device is optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO) to minimize the global conditioning number over the feasible workspace. As a result of the optimization, an optimal rehabilitation robot design is obtained and the condition number of the Jacobian matrix over the feasible workspace is also calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automatic design platform capable of automatic structural analysis, structural synthesis and the application of parallel mechanisms will be a great aid in the conceptual design of mechanisms, though up to now such a platform has only existed as an idea. The work in this paper constitutes part of such a platform. Based on the screw theory and a new structural representation method proposed here which builds a one-to-one correspondence between the strings of representative characters and the kinematic structures of symmetrical parallel mechanisms (SPMs), this paper develops a fully-automatic approach for mobility (degree-of-freedom) analysis, and further establishes an automatic digital-analysis platform for SPMs. With this platform, users simply have to enter the strings of representative characters, and the kinematic structures of the SPMs will be generated and displayed automatically, and the mobility and its properties will also be analysed and displayed automatically. Typical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design, dynamics, and workspace of a hybrid-driven-based cable parallel manipulator (HDCPM) are presented. The HDCPM is able to perform high efficiency, heavy load, and high-performance motion due to the advantages of both the cable parallel manipulator and the hybrid-driven planar five-bar mechanism. The design is performed according to theories of mechanism structure synthesis for cable parallel manipulators. The dynamic formulation of the HDCPM is established on the basis of Newton- Euler method. The workspace of the manipulator is analyzed additionally. As an example, a completely restrained HDCPM with 3 degrees of freedomis studied in simulation in order to verify the validity of the proposed design, workspace, and dynamic analysis. The simulation results, compared with the theoretical analysis, and the case study previously performed show that the manipulator design is reasonable and the mathematical models are correct, which provides the theoretical basis for future physical prototype and control system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design, dynamic modelling, and workspace are presented in this paper concerning cooperative cable parallel manipulators for multiple mobile cranes (CPMMCs). The CPMMCs can handle complex tasks that are more difficult or even impossible for a single mobile crane. Kinematics and dynamics of the CPMMCs are studied on the basis of geometric methodology and d-Alembert's principle, and a mathematical model of the CPMMCs is developed and presented with dynamic simulation. The constant orientation workspace analysis of the CPMMCs is carried out additionally. As an example, a cooperative cable parallel manipulator for triple mobile cranes with 6 Degrees of Freedom is investigated on the basis of the above design objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the kinematics and graphical representation of the singularity configuration of a hybrid-driven cable-suspended parallel robot (HDCPR) with three translational degrees of freedom (DOFs). Applying the closed-loop vector method and geometric methodology, inverse kinematics of the HDCPR needed for singularity analysis is performed. For the sake of singularity condition calculation within the reachable workspace, the procedure utilizing analytical methodology and gradual search algorithm is presented. Simulation results demonstrate the validity of the kinematics and singularity analysis developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the design, dynamic modelling and sliding mode control of multiple cooperative welding robot manipulators (MWRMs). The MWRMs can handle complex tasks that are difficult or even impossible for a single manipulator. The kinematics and dynamics of the MWRMs are studied on the basis of the Denavit-Hartenberg and Lagrange method. Following that, considering the MWRM system with nonlinear and unknown disturbances, a non-singular terminal sliding mode control strategy is designed. By means of the Lyapunov function, the stability of the controller is proved. Simulation results indicate that the good control performance of the MWRMs is achieved by the non-singular terminal sliding mode controller, which also illustrates the correctness of the dynamic modelling and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates dynamic simulation and trajectory tracking control of hybrid-driven planar five-bar parallel mechanism (HPPM). To begin with, a simulation model of dynamics based on MATLAB/SimMechanics is established. Then, traditional PD control and closed loop PD-type iterative learning control of the HPPM are designed. At the end, the simulation based on SimMechanics is carried out, which acquires angular, angular velocity, angular acceleration of two driving links and constraint reaction of kinematic pairs at any time. In addition, the performance of the closed loop PD-type iterative learning control is compared with that of the traditional PD controller through simulations of the HPPM in the presence of the model external disturbances. The simulation results indicate that a perfect trajectory tracking of end-effector of the HPPM is achieved by the closed loop PD-type iterative learning controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unpredictable power fluctuation due to severe heating has been demonstrated to be a critical bottleneck technique restricting the application of magnetorheological (MR) clutches in vehicle industry. The aim of this study is to introduce a low-cost transient simulation approach for evaluating the heat build-up and dissipation of a liquid-cooled MR vehicle clutch. This paper firstly performs a detailed description of the developed MR clutch in terms of operation principle, material selection and configuration. Subsequently, transient temperature simulations are carried out under various conditions to reveal the distribution, variation and impact factors of the transient temperature field. Following these, an experimental setup is established for heating tests of the clutch prototype. Experimental results concerning the temperature variation of magnetorheological fluids and the maximum allowable transient slip power of the clutch prototype are presented, which in return verify the correctness and feasibility of the simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal characteristics have a critical influence on the working stability, control accuracy, and even service life of a magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based clutch. The present study aims to reveal the thermal characteristics of a proposed liquid-cooled MR clutch under various operating conditions. In this paper, theoretical analyses of heating and heat dissipation of the MR clutch was performed firstly. Then a steady temperature simulation was carried out on the MR clutch, followed by a detailed illustration of the experiments, including MR fluid selection, experimental content and procedure. Thereafter, several heating tests were conducted on the MR clutch, and experimental results concerning the slip power loss of the clutch, temperature variation of the MR fluid, temperature effect on the torque output, and maximum allowable slip power of the clutch were presented and discussed. Experimental results indicate that the proposed liquid cooling method can effectively assist in the heat dissipation of the clutch. Moreover, the temperature increase can lead to a reduction of both the viscous torque and total output torque, especially after long-term service. Furthermore, the allowable steady slip power of the clutch is 35 kW and the allowable transient slip power reaches up to 53.2 kW for a slip time of 120 s under the present experimental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]