Force-closure workspace analysis of cable-driven parallel mechanisms (Q2581742)

A cable-driven parallel mechanism (CDPM) possesses a number of promising advantages over the conventional rigid-link mechanisms, such as a simple and light-weight mechanical structure, a high-loading capacity, and a large reachable work space. However, the formulations and results obtained for the rigid-link mechanism cannot be directly applied to CDPMs, due to the unilateral property of cables. This paper focuses on the workspace analysis of fully restrained positioning mechanisms, where \(m\geq n+1\), \(m\) is the number of cables and \(n\) the number of degrees of freedom. A general recursive approach is proposed to check the force-closure condition. This condition is expressed in terms of the convex hull which encloses the origin. To simplify the analysis, a recursive algorithm is proposed and the checking of the convex hull is realized in \((n-1)\)-dimensional spaces instead of checking it in an \(n\)-dimensional space. This is done by reducing one row and one column of the original system at a time via Gaussian elimination. The computational steps to determine the workspace are illustrated on two numerical examples, a completely restrained positioning mechanism \((m=4,n=3)\) and a redundantly restrained positioning mechanism \((m=8,n=6)\). The proposed algorithm can also be applied for incompletely restrained positioning mechanisms \((m\leq n+1)\) by combining external forces and cable tensions instantaneously.