Ray-based cable and obstacle interference-free workspace for cable-driven parallel robots

Abstract

A low computational cost and generalized ray-based interference-free workspace (IFW) analysis method for arbitrary types of CDPRs is proposed in this paper. This work extends the existing ray-based method (RBM) properties to solve the ray-based workspace under cable–cable and cable–obstacle interference-free conditions. The proposed method covers a broader range of obstacles defined by polynomial surfaces than existing methods. After determining the IFW, the ray-based workspace under different workspace conditions can be combined. Path planning can be performed similarly to the existing point-wise approach but with guaranteed connectivity inside the available workspace. Meanwhile, the proposed approach can simultaneously handle different CDPRs with translation and orientation.