Symbolic Dynamics and Controls of a Parallel Manipulator

Application of parallel manipulator has received lots
of attention recently in the industry and the robotic
community due to its high accuracy, high rigidity,
high operation speed, high load capacity and high
stiffness. Despite these advantages, the kinematic
and dynamic analyses of parallel manipulators are
extremely complicated. However, such models are
important in terms of qualitative analysis of the
required actuator forces to realize certain end-
effector task (inverse dynamics), and computing the
corresponding end-effector task based on certain
input to the system (forward dynamics). Till date,
not much general symbolic solution is reported to aid
the above process. Most of the prior work required
some form of heuristic, or introduction of extra
spring/damper elements to approximate the solutions.
This book addresses the possibility in using the
state-of-the-art symbolic manipulation software tool
DynaFlexPro to derive the general kinematic and
dynamic equation of motion so that more accurate and
convenient solution can be computed. We address these
issues using the example of Stewart Platform and
highlight the solution to the corresponding
challenges.