Design and Analysis of 4-DOF Cable-Driven Parallel Mechanism

The design and analysis of a 4-DOF multi-link cable driven parallel mechanism is presented. In contrast to many existing cable driven parallel mechanism, the proposed manipulator’s rigid links are serially articulated. This design preserves the advantages associated with cabledriven parallel mechanisms, and introduces the advantages in having a serial kinematic structure. The kinematic and kinetic analysis is presented, with focus on the different types of cable routings. Several aspects of the manipulator design and assumptions are also discussed. The solving of inverse dynamics and wrenchclosure workspace problems are important in the control and analysis of the mechanism. A detailed example for a two-link mechanism inspired by a human arm consisting of the shoulder and elbow joints is included.