A novel wire-driven parallel robot: Design, analysis and simulation of the CAT4 (Cable Actuated Truss, 4 degrees of freedom)

The CAT4 (Cable Actuated Truss - 4 degrees of freedom) robot is a novel, passively jointed, parallel robot utilizing six control wires for actuation. The robot utilizes a passive jointed linkage with 18 revolute joints to constrain the end effector motion and provide the desired structural stability, restricting the end effector to 3 translational degrees of freedom (DOF) and 1 DOF for end effector pitch. This central mechanism together with winched wire actuation gives a number of important benefits for applications where the advantages of a parallel robot are required in conjunction with light weight. Six electric motor driven winches control the length of the wire actuators that extend from the top frame to points on the end effector raft and jointed linkage to create a stiff, but lightweight, actuated robot.; Simulation work on the robot is presented giving the kinematics, including generalized forward and inverse displacement equations and a computational estimate of the workspace for a specific configuration. Results of computational simulation of the motion of the manipulator and a discussion of the development process, advantages and potential difficulties are also presented.*; *This dissertation includes a CD that is compound (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following applications: Windows 2000; RealPlayer; Microsoft Excel; Maple 6.