Development of an ultrahigh speed robot FALCON using wire drive system

High speed robots are an important component of modern assembly operations. In this paper, we describe the development of an ultrahigh speed robot named FALCON (Fast Load Conveyance), based on a wire driven parallel manipulation system. It achieves peak accelerations of up to 43G and maximum velocities of 13 m/s, even if considerably small DC motors (60W) are used. Due to the use of wires in actuation, the problem of vibration arises. We employ internal force control among wires to reduce the vibration by utilizing nonlinear elasticity from the wire mechanism. Experimental results on point to point control using the prototype system are presented under linear PD feedback, to illustrate the effectiveness of the system.