Article ID: | iaor20081332 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 37 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 217 |
End Page Number: | 236 |
Publication Date: | Apr 2005 |
Journal: | Engineering Optimization |
Authors: | Hay A.M., Snyman Jan A. |
Keywords: | optimization |
In this article, new methodologies for determining the tension distribution and optimal configurations of planar tendon-driven parallel manipulators (TDPMs) are presented. TDPMs are characterized by the use of cables in place of the linear actuators used in most parallel manipulators. Three separate, but inter-related topics are examined in this article, and methodologies for addressing them are proposed. The first is the determination of cable forces for overconstrained tendon-driven manipulators, which is necessary in order to address the second topic, namely, the development of a methodology for workspace determination of tendon-driven manipulators. The final topic examined is the dimensional synthesis of tendon-driven manipulators for a large dextrous workspace. The numerical methodologies developed here have potential for easy application to more complex spatial cases.