Cable suspended parallel robots: design, workspace, and control
Date
2006
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
A cable suspended parallel robot is based on the idea of a Gough-Stewart platform parallel link manipulator. The unique feature is that cables are used as the links and winches are the actuators. Traditional parallel manipulators generally use heavy prismatic actuators, which tend to be large and cumbersome. Using cables dramatically decreases the weight of the parallel robot and increases the distance in which it is able to reach. These characteristics make cable suspended parallel robots useful for tasks such as cargo handling, inspection of airplanes, shipbuilding, and camera positioning in large sport stadiums. ☐ Cables are only capable of supplying pulling tension forces but no pushing compressive forces. The attractive features related to the use of cables, as opposed to traditional actuators, are that cables have a large strength to weight ratio, lightweight, and can extend long distances. Since cables can only pull and not push, the existing theory on parallel robots is slightly modified to incorporate the additional characteristic pertaining to the cables. The current work includes some existing theory on cable-actuated robots and parallel manipulators to form additional ideas about the workspace, design, and control of a 6-degree-of-freedom cable suspended parallel robot.