Design and experimental test of a pneumatic translational 3dof parallel manipulator

Parallel robots exhibit high stiffness, low weight and low dynamic forces, mostly because of the closed loop chains implied by their structure, and allow the positioning of the actuators on the truss. These characteristics outline the possibility of actuating such kind of robotic devices by means of pneumatic actuators. The position control of pneumatic cylinders through proportional valves satisfies the positioning accuracy of many industrial applications, where the features of the parallel robots and the performances of the servo-pneumatic cylinders may allow fast spatial movements with high pay-load. The current work presents the mechatronic design of a low-cost pneumatic parallel manipulator, named TORX, where three pneumatic cylinders have been used to control the three translational DOFs of the end effector through three couples of universal joints.