Constrained robot dynamics II: Parallel machines

Abstract

Part I of this two-part article considered the dynamics of serially connected robot arms with holonomic end-effector constraints. Here, the work is extended to parallel linkages by first finding the dynamic equations for general tree and star structured mechanisms. Parallel linkages are then formed by applying constraints to the terminal links of the tree or star. The formalism is illustrated with two examples: bipedal walking machines and the Stewart platform. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.