Cable Traversing Robots on Spatially Structured Cableway for Reconfigurable Parallel Cable System

Abstract

In conventional configuration of Parallel Cable Mechanism, anchors (winding machines) were fixed and practically used in structured environment. In an attempt to reduce the hurdle of the above application in an unstructured environment, a concept of spatially structured cableway with traversing mobile anchors on it is proposed in this paper. Technical challenges lie in the strategy for mobile anchors to traverse between branched cable, the reconfiguration of parallel mechanism by anchors’ position, and the method to control the reconfigured parallel cable mechanism. A cableway network that follows a spatially structured polygonal chain is proposed. Prototypes consisting of Remote Center-of-Motion Mechanism and dedicated wheel profile was proposed, manufactured, and its traversing capabilities between branched cables were then investigated through experiments. Furthermore, its applicability to reconfigure parallel cable mechanism by anchors’ positioning is demonstrated in this paper.