Design, Kinematics and Control of a Modular Cable-Driven Manipulator for Fine Manipulation

Considering with the parameter and task requirements of the fine manipulation, the mechanical system of the modular cable-driven manipulator (MCDM) is designed in this paper. The mechanical part is mainly composed of the manipulator and the drive box, and the modular design makes it easier to replace the damaged parts. The use of a gimbal with a built-in magnetic encoder and a tension sensor at the end of the rope enhances the ability to detect the current state of the robot and the design of the closed-loop/compliant controller. Firstly, we proposed the forward and inverse kinematics of the fine manipulation robot. The closed-loop and compliant controller of the manipulator is then designed using a magnetic encoder in the gimbal and a tensile force sensor at the end of the rope. Finally, the experiments of the closed-loop/compliant control was carried out. The experiments showed that the MCDM with the closed-loop control has high accuracy, strong load capacity and stability, and can complete the fine manipulation task excellently.