Abstract

The reconfigurable manipulator with lockable cylindrical joints, proposed by Aghili [1], is a reconfigurable mechanism that offers robust reconfigurability for serial manipulators while adding minimal weight to the system. Such a design can be very advantageous in space applications where both dexterity and minimum weight are necessary. Analysis of singularities and workspace is necessary for control process of this manipulator. In this thesis, first, we present the literature on the singularity analysis of parallel manipulators and propose a numerical method for singularity avoidance. Then, a literature on workspace determination methods is presented and another numerical method for workspace analysis is proposed. Both of these methods are applicable to a specific class of parallel manipulators including the reconfigurable manipulator with lockable cylindrical joints. The singularity avoidance technique is based on estimating the closest singular configuration in the workspace. The results of this method are compared to two other related methods and the advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. The second proposed method is towards the workspace determination of manipulators. Workspace determination can be used in the design stage or in control. Results for several case studies are illustrated and the advantages and limitations of this method are discussed. As a complementary contribution to this thesis, a Matlab package has been also developed as a modeling and simulation test-bed for this type of reconfigurable manipulators.

Available Versions of this Item

• SINGULARITY ANALYSIS AND WORKSPACE DETERMINATION OF PARALLEL MANIPULATORS: APPLICATIONS TO RECONFIGURABLE MANIPULATORS. (deposited 20 Jun 2017 19:12) [Currently Displayed]
  • SINGULARITY ANALYSIS AND WORKSPACE DETERMINATION OF PARALLEL MANIPULATORS: APPLICATIONS TO RECONFIGURABLE MANIPULATORS. (deposited 27 Oct 2022 13:48)