TDPR: Tensegrity-Based Cable-Driven Parallel Robot for Large End-Effector Manipulation

Abstract

Cable-driven mechanisms have been widely utilized for actuating robotic systems in various configurations such as parallel, tensegrity, and tendon-driven robots. Conventional cable-driven parallel robots (CDPRs) apply external tension from a rigid frame to manipulate an internal end-effector (EE). In this article, a novel tensegrity-based driven parallel robot (TDPR) is proposed, which utilizes internal cable tensions to actuate an externally located EE. A dynamic model is formulated to account for torque and rotational moments effects included by center-of-mass variations during 6-DoF motion. Under identical geometric parameters, the proposed TDPR enables an expanded reachable workspace, which scales with the size of the EE, unlike conventional CDPRs whose workspace is constrained by the fixed frame dimensions. This expansion is attributed to the external placement of the EE, enabling broader motion coverage without increasing the frame size. To demonstrate practical applicability, the TDPR is implemented as a stabilizing platform. Under sinusoidal disturbance at 0.05 Hz, the system maintains positional accuracy within 2 mm and orientation error below 0.2<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">°</b>, validating the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. The TDPR offers a new actuation paradigm for CDPR systems, providing enhanced workspace efficiency and dynamic stability for applications involving externally located EEs under constrained conditions.