News editors obtained the following quote from the background information suppli ed by the inventors: “Ceiling-mounted robots are also known in the art, as for e xample from German patent publication 102008 013 729, published on 17 Sep. 2009. The objective is to allow the robotic arm to access and work within a large ran ge while allowing mobility in the free space above objects within the work area. “Cable robots have been proposed in the academic and patent literature but are n ot in widespread use in industry. A cable robot is a robot or robotic platform t hat is held in space using cables so that the robot can be moved throughout a re latively large space or volume in comparison with articulated arm robots. To pro vide stability, most cable robot systems have cables that support the weight of the robotic platform from above as well as cables that stabilize the platform fr om below. An example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,753,642. While the stabilit y can be satisfactory, the encumbrance of the lower stabilizing cables defeats the advantages of the mobility of a cable robot.
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