パラレルワイヤ駆動エンドエフェクタを有する垂直多関節マニピュレータ

抄録

Conventional robot manipulators have suffered from a trade-off between weight and workspace. Serial robots have a large workspace and a heavy body, while parallel robots have a small workspace with a light body. This trade-off can be tackled by a hybrid mechanical design. This paper proposes a design of an articulated robot manipulator with a directly cable-driven end effector for physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI). The proposed design realizes a large workspace with a light body. The position and posture of the end effector are controlled by links and cables, respectively. The kinematics is analyzed, taking Cable Guiding Mechanisms (CGMs) into account, and the control method is explained. A prototype performs a large range of motion in addition to fine trajectory tracking in experiments. Conventional robot manipulators have suffered from a trade-off between weight and workspace.