Abstract
Parallel mechanisms are considered as machine tools, because they have high rigidity and highly precise positioning. Previously, we proposed a spherical 5-degrees hybrid type parallel mechanism that is composed of a spherical 3 degrees parallel mechanism and a plane guide table. The proposed mechanism has high rigidity and large workspace and we confirmed that the proposed mechanism can cut a work smoothly. As a parallel mechanism can output large force, it is hoped to be applied not only to cutting but also to processing which pushes a tool against an object such as abrasion, sheet metal processing. In these cases, force control as well as positioning control of the mechanism is required. Thus, this study proposes force control system of the previously proposed hybrid type parallel mechanism. The proposed control system can operate both the force and the position by the same variables. We actually build up the control system and confirmed that the hybrid type parallel mechanism can control pressing force and can avoid obstacles automatically.
