serial and parallel robotics: energy saving systems and rehabilitation devices

This thesis focuses on the design and discussion of robotic devices and their applications. Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback, and information processing [1]. Nowadays, robotics has been an unprecedented increase in applications of industry, military, health, domestic service, exploration, commerce, etc. Different applications require robots with different structures and different functions. Robotics normally includes serial and parallel structures. To have contribution to two kinds of structures, this thesis consisting of two sections is devoted to the design and development of serial and parallel robotic structures, focused on applications in the two different fields: industry and health

Accuracy Analysis of 3T1R Fully-Parallel Robots

International audienceParallel robots with Shoenflies motions (also called 3T1R parallel robots) are increasingly being used in applications where precision is of great importance. Clearly, methods for evaluating the accuracy of these robots are therefore needed. The accuracy of well designed, manufactured, and calibrated parallel robots depends mostly on the input errors (sensor and control errors). Dexterity and other similar performance indices have often been used to evaluate indirectly the influence of input errors. However, industry needs a precise knowledge of the maximum orientation and position output errors at a given nominal configuration. An interval analysis method that can be adapted for this purpose has been proposed in the literature, but gives no kinematic insight into the problem of optimal design. In this paper, a simpler method is proposed based on a detailed error analysis of 3T1R fully-parallel robots that brings valuable understanding of the problem of error amplification

Mechatronic development and dynamic control of a 3-DOF parallel manipulator

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines: An International Journal, 40:4, 434-452 [September 2012] [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15397734.2012.687292The aim of this article is to develop, from the mechatronic point of view, a low-cost parallel manipulator (PM) with 3-degrees of freedom (DOF). The robot has to be able to generate and control one translational motion (heave) and two rotary motions (rolling and pitching). Applications for this kind of parallel manipulator can be found at least in driving-motion simulation and in the biomechanical field. An open control architecture has been developed for this manipulator, which allows implementing and testing different dynamic control schemes for a PM with 3-DOF. Thus, the robot developed can be used as a test bench where control schemes can be tested. In this article, several control schemes are proposed and the tracking control responses are compared. The schemes considered are based on passivity-based control and inverse dynamic control. The control algorithm considers point-to-point control or tracking control. When the controller considers the system dynamics, an identified model has been used. The control schemes have been tested on a virtual robot and on the actual prototype. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Plan Nacional de I+D, Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia (FEDER-CICYT) for the partial financing of this study under the projects DPI2009-13830-C02-01 and DPI2010-20814-C02-(01, 02). This work was also supported in part by the CDCHT-ULA Grant I-1286-11-02-B.Vallés Miquel, M.; Díaz-Rodríguez, M.; Valera Fernández, Á.; Mata Amela, V.; Page Del Pozo, AF. (2012). Mechatronic development and dynamic control of a 3-DOF parallel manipulator. 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Miniaturized modular manipulator design for high precision assembly and manipulation tasks

In this paper, design and control issues for the development of miniaturized manipulators which are aimed to be used in high precision assembly and manipulation tasks are presented. The developed manipulators are size adapted devices, miniaturized versions of conventional robots based on well-known kinematic structures. 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) delta robot and a 2 DOF pantograph mechanism enhanced with a rotational axis at the tip and a Z axis actuating the whole mechanism are given as examples of study. These parallel mechanisms are designed and developed to be used in modular assembly systems for the realization of high precision assembly and manipulation tasks. In that sense, modularity is addressed as an important design consideration. The design procedures are given in details in order to provide solutions for miniaturization and experimental results are given to show the achieved performances

Sliding Mode Control With PID Sliding Surface for Active Vibration Damping of Pneumatically Actuated Soft Robots

This paper proposes a novel active vibration damping mechanism for soft robots. In recent years, soft robots have gained increasing research attention for robotic researchers and industrial developers alike. Soft robots offer a significant number of advantages when it comes to the handling of fragile objects, clinical rehabilitation tasks, and human-machine interaction. Soft robots demonstrate a high degree of compliance and safety because of their inherent softness, achieving the same with rigid robots will require intricate controller design and sensing mechanisms. However, the most commonly used soft robots use pneumatic systems for actuation. These pneumatic soft robots undergo large amplitude vibrations when deactuated suddenly. These vibrations not only decrease the accuracy of these soft robots but also compromise their structural integrity, which results in a decrease in their useable lifespan. An active vibration damping mechanism is very much needed to increase the utility of soft robots in industrial applications. To accurately control the dynamic behavior of soft robots, we propose a sliding mode based controller with PID sliding surface. The proposed controller uses feedback error to define a PID sliding surface, and a nonlinear sliding mode controller works to keep the system attached to the sliding surface. The coefficients of the PID sliding surface determine the dynamic behavior of the soft robot. The performance of the proposed controller is verified by using a multi-chambered parallel soft robot. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed controller can suppress vibration amplitude to a decidedly smaller range

Mechatronic Coupling System for Cooperative Manufacturing with Industrial Robots

Rising product variants and shortened product life cycles require more flexible and universally utilizable production systems and machines. Consequently, it can be expected that the importance of industrial robots in production will continuously increase, due to their suitability to take over the role of a universal production machine. However, robots are not yet able to fulfill this role. Industrial use of robots has so far been limited mainly to simple transport and handling tasks in the context of human-robot collaboration as well as highly repetitive automated tasks in the context of manufacturing and assembly. For universal use, robots must be capable to perform more demanding tasks in manufacturing with higher requirements on mechanical stiffness and accuracy. Therefore, this paper presents a mechatronic system to couple two robots to a parallel kinematic system to temporarily increase the mechanical stiffness. The coupled state of the robots allows load sharing, higher process forces and eventually higher precision. The overall goal is to enable robots to perform more demanding manufacturing tasks and thus to be utilized in a wider range of applications. Design requirements, the development approach and optimization methods of the first coupling module prototype will be presented and discussed. The next development steps, a future demonstration system and possible use cases for the coupling module will be shown in the outlook