Abstract
Parallel-link mechanisms possess high power,high stiffness,and high precision owing to parallel arrangement of actuators; their workspace is,however,smaller,in comparison with typical serial-link mechanisms.This paper proposes a parallel-link robot driven by pneumatic actuators with a variable actuator-inclination mechanism.This parallel-link robot is principally based on the type of parallel-link mechanisms in which linear actuators fixed on a base plate enable a high degree of freedom of the motion of an end plate.For the purpose of enlarging the workspace,a system to arbitrarily change an inclination of each individual actuator is incorporated into the robot.Using pneumatic actuators in the realization of the proposed parallel-link robot leads to lightweight,compact,and low-cost construction.Workspace and motion transmissibility are evaluated for the proposed parallel-link robot through simulations based on the kinematics.Furthermore,an experimental parallel-link robot is built,and investigated.
