Algebraic Solution for the Forward Displacement Analysis of the General 6-6 Stewart Mechanism

The solution for the forward displacement analysis（FDA） of the general 6-6 Stewart mechanism（i.e., the connection points of the moving and fixed platforms are not restricted to lying in a plane） has been extensively studied, but the efficiency of the solution remains to be effectively addressed. To this end, an algebraic elimination method is proposed for the FDA of the general 6-6 Stewart mechanism. The kinematic constraint equations are built using conformal geometric algebra（CGA）. The kinematic constraint equations are transformed by a substitution of variables into seven equations with seven unknown variables. According to the characteristic of anti-symmetric matrices, the aforementioned seven equations can be further transformed into seven equations with four unknown variables by a substitution of variables using the Grobner basis. Its elimination weight is increased through changing the degree of one variable, and sixteen equations with four unknown variables can be obtained using the Grobner basis. A 40th-degree univariate polynomial equation is derived by constructing a relatively small-sized 9 × 9 Sylvester resultant matrix. Finally, two numerical examples are employed to verify the proposed method. The results indicate that the proposed method can effectively improve the efficiency of solution and reduce the computational burden because of the small-sized resultant matrix.

Fast Numerical Solution to Forward Kinematics of General Stewart Mechanism Using Quaternion

The forward kinematics of the general Stewart mechanism is studied and a fast numerical method is presented.Quaternion is utilized to model the forward kinematics and the equations are merely a system of quadratic ones.The numerical method is a nice simplification of the Newton-Raphson method when applied to this system.A simulation of the movement control of the Stewart mechanism is accomplished,confirming the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in real-time conditions.

STUDY OF REGULARITY OF GENERAL-LINEAR-COMPLEX SINGULARITY OF 3/6-STEWART MECHANISM

The general-linear-complex singularity of Stewart mechanism is a veryimportant problem in the parallel manipulator. Its general regularity is not found yet during thepast two decades. St-Onge and Gosselin pointed Out that the singularity locus of the Stewartmechanism at some given orientations of the moving platform should be polynomial expressions withvaried degrees in 2000, but they didn't formulate the expression. Based on the kinematicssingularity principle and the geometry condition proposed by Huang Zhen in 1999, firstly thesingularity equation in degree two is derived. It is a hyperbola when the orientation of the movingplatform is given. This result is also proved using screw theory. Then some singularity surfaces aregotten in three-dimensional space. This result is of important significance.

A Closed-Loop Dynamic Controller for Active Vibration Isolation Working on A Parallel Wheel-Legged Robot

Serving the Stewart mechanism as a wheel-legged structure,the most outstanding superiority of the proposed wheel-legged hybrid robot(WLHR)is the active vibration isolation function during rolling on rugged terrain.However,it is difficult to obtain its precise dynamic model,because of the nonlinearity and uncertainty of the heavy robot.This paper presents a dynamic control framework with a decentralized structure for single wheel-leg,position tracking based on model predictive control(MPC)and adaptive impedance module from inside to outside.Through the Newton-Euler dynamic model of the Stewart mechanism,the controller first creates a predictive model by combining Newton-Raphson iteration of forward kinematic and inverse kinematic calculation of Stewart.The actuating force naturally enables each strut to stretch and retract,thereby realizing six degrees-of-freedom(6-DOFs)position-tracking for Stewart wheel-leg.The adaptive impedance control in the outermost loop adjusts environmental impedance parameters by current position and force feedback of wheel-leg along Z-axis.This adjustment allows the robot to adequately control the desired support force tracking,isolating the robot body from vibration that is generated from unknown terrain.The availability of the proposed control methodology on a physical prototype is demonstrated by tracking a Bezier curve and active vibration isolation while the robot is rolling on decelerate strips.By comparing the proportional and integral(PI)and constant impedance controllers,better performance of the proposed algorithm was operated and evaluated through displacement and force sensors internally-installed in each cylinder,as well as an inertial measurement unit(IMU)mounted on the robot body.The proposed algorithm structure significantly enhances the control accuracy and vibration isolation capacity of parallel wheel-legged robot.