Development of 6 DOF Displacement Sensor Using RUS Parallel Mechanism

Abstract

Nowadays, many types of manipulators have been developed and used in lots of production processes. Force-based control methods or additional mechanical devices called Remote Center Compliance (RCC) have increased the system’s compliance and accuracy. However, the force-based control method’s operating speed is low, and the RCC cannot measure deflection. Thus it cannot calculate the position of the end-effector accurately. For accurate force and position control, it is necessary to measure the deflection of the RCC and to perform this, a different type of device than the existing RCC is required. This paper presents the necessity and possibility of developing an RCC capable of measuring the displacement of the end-effector and showing the displacement sensor’s feasibility using a 6 DOF parallel mechanism. In particular, we suggest that it is possible to make devices cheaper and more compact by using angular displacement sensors. Finally, we show the possibility of use in actual industrial sites through peg-in-hole simulation using the device. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.