Kinematic Modelling of a Panel Enclosed Mechanism

Abstract

This thesis presents a new method for kinematic modeling and analysis of a six degree-of-freedom parallel robot enclosed by a number of sliding panels, called panel enclosed mechanism. This type of robots has been seen in applications where mechanisms are covered by changeable surfaces, such as aircraft morphing wings made of variable geometry truss manipulators. Based on the traditional parallel robot kinematics, the proposed method is developed to model the motions of a multiple segmented telescopic rigid panels that are attached to the moving branches of the mechanism. Through this modeling and analysis, a collision detection algorithm is proposed to analyze the collisions that could occur between adjacent sliding panels during motion over the workspace of the mechanism. This algorithm will help to design a set of permissible panels used to enclose the mechanism free of collision. A number of cases are simulated to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, an extra link is added to provide an additional degree-of-freedom. Various search methods are employed to evaluate optimal orientation angles to minimize collisions of adjacent panels. Finally, the effect of increased mobility is analyzed and validated as a potential solution to reduce panel collisions.