Abstract
Cable-driven parallel robots offer several benefits in terms of workspace size and design cost with respect to rigid-link manipulators. However, implementing an emergency procedure for these manipulators is not trivial, since stopping the actuators abruptly does not imply that the end-effector rests at a stable position. This paper improves a previous recovery strategy by introducing the physics of the actuators, i.e., torque limits, inertia, and friction. Such features deeply affect the reachable acceleration during the recovery trajectory. The strategy has been applied to a simulated point-mass suspended cable robot with three translational degrees of freedom to prove its effectiveness and feasibility. The acceleration limits during the recovery phase were compared with the ones obtained with the previous method, thus confirming the necessity of contemplating the properties of the actuators. The proposed strategy can be implemented in a real-time environment, which makes it suitable for immediate application to an industrial environment.
Highlights
Cable-driven robots, commonly called cable robots, are an important field in robotics
The damage occurring due to failures of cable-driven manipulators can be very severe, research on failure analysis and fault tolerance has not been sufficiently explored [5] in comparison to serial manipulators
Implementing an emergency procedure for these manipulators is not trivial, since stopping the actuators abruptly does not imply that the end-effector rests at a stable position, making failure analysis challenging for cable robots
Summary
Cable-driven robots, commonly called cable robots, are an important field in robotics. Cable robots stand out from other parallel robots since their links are constituted by cables wounded around actuated pulleys, allowing for a simple and cheap design and for large workspace manipulation tasks These advantages lead to a wide spreading of cable robots, which have been suggested for industrial applications [2]. With respect to rigid-link parallel robots, the use of cables introduces an additional constraint due to their ability to resist tension but not compression, each wire can pull but not push the end-effector This leads to safety concerns when cable robots are adopted in crowded areas or interact with humans, especially since an emergency stop procedure for these devices is not as simple to implement as in rigid-link robots. Implementing an emergency procedure for these manipulators is not trivial, since stopping the actuators abruptly does not imply that the end-effector rests at a stable position, making failure analysis challenging for cable robots
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