| dc.description.abstract | Parallel robotic manipulators are a specific type of robot that has multiple
limbs which are ultimately connected to a moving body. Within
this regime, there are several sub-classes of robots characterized by
certain inherent traits. Common to all sub-classes is the ability to
articulate the moving platform by actuating each of the limbs. In
general, it has been shown that these types of robotic manipulators
possess several types of advantageous properties. Some of these properties
are: good dynamic character, high stiffness, high precision, large
payload to weight ratio, and high speed.
Flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing regimes are new manufacturing
system paradigms that aim at achieving cost-effective and rapid
system changes. Essentially, a system classified as
flexible or reconfigurable
would be one that is adaptive to change in the market without
the need to re-design or re-develop its components. The advantage of
such a system is in theory very large. To date, there has been some
enhancements made in the area, however there are still many open
aims and possible improvements to be investigated. Much of which
aims at furthering the concepts from theory to practical applications.
The main objective of this dissertation is to enhance the knowledge
base in
flexible and reconfigurable systems through parallel robotics.
Specifically, by utilizing new ideas in parallel robotics tailored to these
manufacturing regimes, significant improvements in the knowledge
base are attained. These can be classified under one specific regime of
parallel robotics and further categorized as passive, semi-active, and
active (adaptive).
This thesis first focuses on a new design methodology related to
flexible
and reconfigurable manufacturing. Essentially, the method proposes
a systematic approach to recon figure the dynamic properties
of robotic devices for various functional requirements that would be
part of a flexible manufacturing situation. The method is tested on
an example structure and results indicate that the proposed reconfiguration
method outperforms existing devices. Next, this dissertation
focuses on the design of new robotic architectures that are more adaptive.
Specifically, the goal is to achieve structures that can be adaptive
in real-time. Existing structures are only reconfigurable passively and
need to stop operation in order to reconfigure manually. To this end, a
hybrid structure that is semi-active reconfigurable is first investigated.
It is dubbed the ReSl-Bot. A complete engineering analysis and design
is conducted illustrating its properties. To take this one step further,
a novel class of hybrid adaptive parallel robots is then proposed. A
6-DOF robot belonging to this class called the HAPM mk.1 is studied
in detail. It is effectively shown that this novel design has the ability
to adapt properties actively. This type of adaption could be used for
the performance enhancement in many applications, particularly for flexible manufacturing. Properties such as DOF, stiffness, dexterity,
precision, kinetics, energy consumption, backlash, etc. could potentially
be altered for varying applications and requirements. Notably,
a complete theoretical analysis is conducted, ending with analytical
dynamics and control. | en |
