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Title: A redundant, 6-DOF parallel manipulator structure with improved workspace and dexterity

Conference ·
OSTI ID:10109751
 [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States)

This paper presents a novel manipulator structure which combines two known parallel manipulator structures--a Stewart Platform (SP), and a double octahedral Variable Geometry Truss (VGT). The combined VGT + SP structure is redundant, using nine actuators to realize six-DOF motion. Combining the two structures allows the translational and orientational workspaces of the two individual structures to sum together to a much larger workspace than is generally achievable with parallel manipulator structures. In addition, the VGT portion of the structure allows the configuration of the Stewart Platform to be changed ``on the fly`` from one with a large workspace to one with high dexterity. A useful application of this structure is at the distal end of a truss-based manipulator, where it can serve as a dexterous wrist while preserving an internal passageway for cabling and/or conveyance systems.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
10109751
Report Number(s):
PNL-SA-24072; CONF-940859-29; ON: DE95004898; TRN: AHC29507%%126
Resource Relation:
Conference: 5. international symposium on robotics and manufacturing,Maui, HI (United States),14-18 Aug 1994; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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