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Chapter 18 — Parallel Mechanisms

Jean-Pierre Merlet, Clément Gosselin and Tian Huang

This chapter presents an introduction to the kinematics and dynamics of parallel mechanisms, also referred to as parallel robots. As opposed to classical serial manipulators, the kinematic architecture of parallel robots includes closed-loop kinematic chains. As a consequence, their analysis differs considerably from that of their serial counterparts. This chapter aims at presenting the fundamental formulations and techniques used in their analysis.

3-DOF high-speed 3-RPS parallel robot

Author  Tian Huang

Video ID : 43

This video demonstrates a 3-DOF high-speed 3-RPS parallel robot (with A3 head).

6-DOF cable-suspended robot

Author  Clément Gosselin

Video ID : 44

This video demonstrates a 6-DOF cable-suspended robot acting in a large workspace to scan artefacts. References: 1. C. Gosselin, S. Bouchard: A gravity-powered mechanism for extending the workspace of a cable-driven parallel mechanism: Application to the appearance modeling of objects, Int. J. Autom. Technol. 4(4), 372-379 (2010); 2. J.D. Deschênes, P. Lambert, S. Perreault, N. Martel-Brisson, N. Zoso, A. Zaccarin, P. Hébert, S. Bouchard, C. Gosselin: A cable-driven parallel mechanism for capturing object appearance from multiple viewpoints, Proc. 6th Int. Conf. 3-D Digital Imaging and Modeling, Montréal (2007)

CoGiRo

Author  Marc Gouttefarde

Video ID : 45

This video demonstrates a 6-DOF fully constrained 8-cable-driven robot acting in a large workspace on palletizing applications (CoGiRo robot). Reference: J. Lamaury, M. Gouttefarde: Control of a large redundantly actuated cable-suspended parallel robot, Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Autom. (ICRA), Karlsruhe (2013), pp. 4659-4664

Parallel 5R robot

Author  Ilian Bonev

Video ID : 46

This video demonstrates a planar parallel 5R robot that is designed to fully exploit its workspace.

Diamond

Author  Tian Huang

Video ID : 47

This video demonstrates a 2-DOF high-speed parallel robot (Diamond).

6-DOF statically balanced parallel robot

Author  Clément Gosselin

Video ID : 48

This video demonstrates a 6-DOF statically balanced parallel robot. References: 1. C. Gosselin, J. Wang, T. Laliberté, I. Ebert-Uphoff: On the design of a statically balanced 6-DOF parallel manipulator, Proc. IFToMM Tenth World Congress Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, Oulu (1999) pp. 1045-1050; 2. C. Gosselin, J. Wang: On the design of statically balanced motion bases for flight simulators, Proc. AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conf., Boston (1998), pp. 272-282; 3. I. Ebert-Uphoff, C. Gosselin: Dynamic modeling of a class of spatial statically-balanced parallel platform mechanisms, Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Autom. (ICRA), Detroit (1999), Vol. 2, pp. 881-888

3-DOF dynamically balanced parallel robot

Author  Clément Gosselin

Video ID : 49

This video demonstrates a 3-DOF dynamically balanced parallel robot. References: 1. S. Foucault, C. Gosselin: On the development of a planar 3-DOF reactionless parallel mechanism, Proc. ASME Mech. Robot. Conf., Montréal (2002); 2. Y. Wu, C. Gosselin: Synthesis of reactionless spatial 3-DOFf and 6-DOF mechanisms without separate counter-rotations, Int. J. Robot. Res. 23(6), 625-642 (2004)

IPAnema

Author  Andreas Pott

Video ID : 50

This video demonstrates a fully constrained cable-driven parallel robot with eight cables. Reference: A. Pott, H. Mütherich, W. Kraus, V. Schmidt, P. Miermeister, A. Verl: IPAnema: A family of cable-driven parallel robots for industrial applications, Mech. Mach. Sci. 12, 119-134 (2013)

Par2 robot

Author  Sébastien Krut

Video ID : 51

This video demonstrates the Par2 robot, a high-speed planar parallel robot.

Quadrupteron robot

Author  Clément Gosselin

Video ID : 52

This video demonstrates a 4-DOF partially decoupled scara-type parallel robot (Quadrupteron). References: 1. P.L. Richard, C. Gosselin, X. Kong: Kinematic analysis and prototyping of a partially decoupled 4-DOF 3T1R parallel manipulator, ASME J. Mech. Des. 129(6), 611-616 (2007); 2. X. Kong, C. Gosselin: Forward displacement analysis of a quadratic 4-DOF 3T1R parallel manipulator: The Quadrupteron, Meccanica 46(1), 147-154 (2011); 3. C. Gosselin: Compact dynamic models for the tripteron and quadrupteron parallel manipulators, J. Syst. Control Eng. 223(I1), 1-11 (2009)