A New Method to Calculate the Force and Moment Workspaces of Actuation Redundant Spatial Parallel Manipulators

Abstract

A new method for obtaining the force and moment workspaces of spatial parallel manipulators (PMs) is presented. Force and moment workspaces are regions within which a manipulator can sustain/apply at least a certain value of force or moment in all directions. Here, the force and moment workspaces are found using a method, which explicitly sets the largest possible number of actuators to their maximum limits ensuring that the manipulator is performing at its best possible wrench capabilities. Two cases for obtaining these workspaces are used. The first gives the applicable/sustainable force with a prescribed moment whereas the second one gives the applicable/sustainable moment with a prescribed force. For illustration purposes, the method is applied to a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) redundantly-actuated spatial PM, the 3-RRṞS. The results are represented graphically as the boundaries of the workspace in the three-dimensional Cartesian space. These workspaces can be used as a powerful tool for path/task planning and PM design.