Task-Based Optimal Design of a Stewart-Platform Manipulator: a New Rolling Mill

In this paper, a kinematic optimal design of a new parallel-type rolling mill based upon Stewart platform manipulator is investigated. The objective of this new parallel-type rolling mill is to permit an integrated control of the strip thickness, strip shape, pair crossing angle, uniform wear of the rolls, and tension of the strip. A manipulability measure, as the ratio of the manipulability ellipsoid volume and the condition number of a split Jacobian matrix, is defined. Two kinematic parameters, the radius of the base and the angle between two neighboring joints, are optimally designed by maximizing the global manipulability measure in the entire workspace.