查看更多>>摘要：Deployable structures have a wide range of applications in, for instance, soft robotics, bionic machinery, aviation equipment, and programmable metamaterials. Tensegrity, based on the equilibrium of axially stretched and compressed elements, can be an attractive candidate for designing deployable structures. However, existing tensegrity-based deployable structures mostly hold symmetrical deformation modes, which greatly limits their applicable scenarios. To this end, we here propose a tensegrity-based morphing module that can exhibit not only symmetrical configurations, but also a series of asymmetrical configurations. This module is composed by a prismatic tensegrity and two end plates, in which the tensegrity contributes to the deformability of the module and the plates allow the module rather flexible to construct various deployable structures with abundant configurations. Our theoretical and experimental results both confirm that the proposed module is capable of symmetrical/asymmetrical deployment through a variety of active actuations. Finally, several quasi-one-dimensional structures are assembled by a number of the morphing modules as examples, and their flexible deformability helps to broaden the application prospects of tensegrity-based deployable structures.
查看更多>>摘要：This paper presents a novel six degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) parallel robot with only three identical limbs for high-speed operations. First, displacement analysis of the new parallel robot is per-formed, in which the closed-form forward displacement model can be obtained through a rela-tively concise derivation. Then, velocity and acceleration models of the new parallel robot are established, and a typical numerical example is used to illustrate the correctness of the derived kinematic model. Further, singularities of the new 6-DOF parallel robot are identified based on screw theory. At last, the workspace of the new parallel robot is quantitatively analyzed. Compared with the most classic 6-DOF counterpart (Hexa robot) for high-speed operations in existence, the proposed new parallel robot has a simpler forward displacement model, and has larger position workspace and higher rotation ability. With these characteristics, the new parallel robot has a good application prospect in high-speed assembly and spatial pick-and-place.
NSTL
Elsevier