Fuzzy-interval approach and sensitivity analysis to assess dimensional tolerances of parallel manipulators

Abstract

This paper proposes an alternative approach based on a fuzzy-interval analysis to assess how dimensional tolerances affect the kinematics of parallel manipulators. The novel contribution of the proposed approach consists of modeling and analyzing the dimensional tolerances as fuzzy-intervals based on fuzzy theory and interval sensitivity methods. The dimensional tolerances are modeled as intervals weighted by the membership function for the proposed fuzzy-interval approach. The proposed fuzzy-interval analysis is used to analyze the positioning error, sensitivity, and design analysis. The proposed fuzzy-interval method was applied using numerical simulations to assess the effect of dimensional tolerances and sensitivity of parallel manipulators. The proposed approach showed as a complementary procedure that can be used in the design phase of parallel manipulators.