On Fundamental Design of Cable Configurations of Cable-Driven Parallel Manipulators with Redundancy.

Abstract

Cable-driven parallel architecture is a new robot mechanism which is suitable especially for high-speed transfer of lightweight objects. In this paper, the optimal cable configurations are derived within a class of mechanisms redundantly driven by 8 cables from the viewpoint of working space. The working space is determined by conditions that the traveling plate must be able to receive arbitrary force and moment and that the cables must not contact. Heuristics on cable configurations were obtained through optimizing and analyzing isotropic configurations of actuator units. Classification and comparison of various symmetric configurations derived the 2 optimal configurations : Rod-type and T-type. Simulation results proved the validity of these designs and showed their advantages and disadvantages.