EP2528715A1 - Parallel kinematics robot with five legs - Google Patents

Parallel kinematics robot with five legs

Info

Publication number
EP2528715A1
EP2528715A1 EP11703503A EP11703503A EP2528715A1 EP 2528715 A1 EP2528715 A1 EP 2528715A1 EP 11703503 A EP11703503 A EP 11703503A EP 11703503 A EP11703503 A EP 11703503A EP 2528715 A1 EP2528715 A1 EP 2528715A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
legs
robot
tool
base
tools
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP11703503A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Dhr. Patrice Lambert
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
PENTA ROBOTICS PATENTS B.V.
Original Assignee
Penta Robotics Patents BV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Penta Robotics Patents BV filed Critical Penta Robotics Patents BV
Publication of EP2528715A1 publication Critical patent/EP2528715A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
    • B25J17/00—Joints
    • B25J17/02—Wrist joints
    • B25J17/0258—Two-dimensional joints
    • B25J17/0266—Two-dimensional joints comprising more than two actuating or connecting rods
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
    • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
    • B25J9/003—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics
    • B25J9/0045—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics with kinematics chains having a rotary joint at the base
    • B25J9/0051—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics with kinematics chains having a rotary joint at the base with kinematics chains of the type rotary-universal-universal or rotary-spherical-spherical, e.g. Delta type manipulators

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a robot with multiple degrees of freedom comprising multiple legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools.
  • Such a robot is known from EP-A-1 870 214.
  • the known ro ⁇ bot has a single tool mounted on the mobile platform which is made up of four members linked together by means of articulated linkages.
  • the robot also has four legs and is thus provided with four degrees of freedom pertaining to the movement of the tool.
  • the tool itself has an actuator that is mounted on the mobile platform.
  • a robot has to satisfy conflicting demands. At the one hand it is desirable to have a low mass in order to reduce inertia and improve the speed of operation. On the other hand a robot preferably shows a high stiffness which allows to maintain accuracy when operating with high amplitudes and frequencies. In most cases these requirements conflict with each other and a trade off must occur in the design of the robot between mass and stiffness.
  • a measure of the quality of the de ⁇ sign can be found in the so called P/M ratio wherein P stands for payload and M stands for total mass. The higher this P/M ra ⁇ tio is, the better the design.
  • a problem of the design known from EP-A-1 870 214 is that the actuator that is mounted on the mobile platform reduces the P/M ratio in that it increases the weight of the mobile platform at the expense of the load that may be supported or handled by the tool or tools that are provided on the platform.
  • a robot is known with multiple degrees of freedom comprising multiple legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, which legs each have a mo ⁇ tor drive at the base, and which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool, and comprises five legs, wherein each leg connects at its extremities to the base and to the platform.
  • a further objective is to provide a design which generally allows to provide a robot with improved P/M ra ⁇ tio.
  • Still a further objective of the invention is to provide a robot which can represent a viable alternative for the robot or robots that are known from the prior art.
  • the robot of the invention is provided with the features of one or more of the appended claims.
  • the robot is embodied with the actuator being placed distant from the tool or tools at the base, and the actuator of the tool or tools being embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
  • the construction of the robot with the actua- tor being placed distant from the tool or tools at the base thereby effectively reduces the weight of the mobile platform, and improves the earlier mentioned P/M ratio.
  • the robot of the invention has legs, each leg having a motor drive at the base. Contrary to the prior art however and very cleverly, in the design of the robot of the invention the actuator of the tool or tools is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
  • the platform is embodied with members that are rotationally connected to each other with links, wherein each link is provided at an extremity of one leg.
  • the tool or tools are supported by a member and/or a link.
  • the mobile platform supports two tools occupying a distance between each other that is adjustable by the operation of the actuator.
  • the positions of the motor drives at the base are sym ⁇ metrical and form an imaginary pentagram.
  • the pentagram accords to the five legs of the robot.
  • each of the legs comprises a rotational joint connected to a parallelogram construction comprising the leg's link that connects to the members of the platform at a side distant from the rotational joint.
  • the robot of the inven ⁇ tion with multiple degrees of freedom comprises five legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, wherein the legs have motor drives that are positioned at the base, which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools, which actuator is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic isometric drawing of a robot according to the invention in a first embodiment
  • -figure 3 provides a detailed view of the platform of a robot according to a second embodiment.
  • the robot with multiple degrees of freedom of the invention is denoted with reference 1, comprising multiple legs 2 linked at a first of their ends to a base 3, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform 4.
  • the platform 4 supports in this embodi ⁇ ment two tools 5, 6, and the robot 1 further comprises an actua ⁇ tor for operating the tools 5, 6, the operation of which actua- tor will become apparent from the following description.
  • the mobile platform 4 is in a detailed view shown in figure 2.
  • the two tools 5, 6 may be embodied as vacuum grippers, but also other types of tools are feasible.
  • the robot 1 comprises five legs 2, wherein each leg 2 connects at its extremities to the base 3 and the platform 4.
  • Each of the legs 2 comprises a rota ⁇ tional joint 10 connected at one end to the base 3, and at the other end to a parallelogram construction 11 that connects to the platform 4.
  • the platform 4 in turn is embodied with members 7 that are rotationally connected to each other with links 8, wherein each link 8 is provided at an extremity of one leg 2.
  • Each leg' s link 8 is thus positioned at a side distant from the rotational joint 10 of the concerning leg 2.
  • the tool or tools 5, 6 are supported by either a member 7 or a link 8. It may be preferable that the mobile plat ⁇ form 4 supports two tools 5, 6 as in the shown case, which tools 5, 6 then may occupy a distance between each other that is ad- justable by the operation of the robot providing the actuator for said tools 5, 6.
  • the legs 2 of the robot 1 of the invention each have a motor drive 9 at the base 3, so as to arrange that the actuator of the tool or tools 5, 6 is embodied by the joint operation of these motor drives 9 of the legs 2.
  • the actuator is thus placed distant from the tool or tools 5, 6 and at the base 3 so as to reduce weight on the platform 4.
  • the positions of the motor drives 9 at the base 3 are symmetrical and form an imaginary pentagram.
  • FIG 3 another embodiment of the platform 4 of the robot of the invention is shown, in which the tool is embodied with gripper fingers 12', 12'' which are actu ⁇ ated by the above described operation in which the motor drives 9 of the legs 2 operate to control the platform 4 in a manner to arrange that the gripper fingers 12', 12'' occupy a preselected distance between each other.
  • Figure 3 also shows that an addi ⁇ tional prismatic joint 13 may be placed between the respective gripper fingers 12', 12''.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Robotics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Manipulator (AREA)

Abstract

Robot with multiple degrees of freedom comprising five legs (2) linked at a first of their ends to a base ( 3), and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform (4), which platform carries at least one tool (5, 6, 121, 12 "), and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools, which actuator is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives ( 9 ) of the legs that are positioned at the base.

Description

PARALLEL KINEMATICS ROBOT WITH FIVE LEGS
The invention relates to a robot with multiple degrees of freedom comprising multiple legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools.
Such a robot is known from EP-A-1 870 214. The known ro¬ bot has a single tool mounted on the mobile platform which is made up of four members linked together by means of articulated linkages. The robot also has four legs and is thus provided with four degrees of freedom pertaining to the movement of the tool. The tool itself has an actuator that is mounted on the mobile platform.
Generally speaking a robot has to satisfy conflicting demands. At the one hand it is desirable to have a low mass in order to reduce inertia and improve the speed of operation. On the other hand a robot preferably shows a high stiffness which allows to maintain accuracy when operating with high amplitudes and frequencies. In most cases these requirements conflict with each other and a trade off must occur in the design of the robot between mass and stiffness. A measure of the quality of the de¬ sign can be found in the so called P/M ratio wherein P stands for payload and M stands for total mass. The higher this P/M ra¬ tio is, the better the design.
A problem of the design known from EP-A-1 870 214 is that the actuator that is mounted on the mobile platform reduces the P/M ratio in that it increases the weight of the mobile platform at the expense of the load that may be supported or handled by the tool or tools that are provided on the platform.
From US 2004/211284 a robot is known with multiple degrees of freedom comprising multiple legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, which legs each have a mo¬ tor drive at the base, and which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool, and comprises five legs, wherein each leg connects at its extremities to the base and to the platform. It is one of the objectives of the invention to provide a solution for the problem of the said reduced P/M ratio due to the increased weight of the mobile platform by the actuator mounted thereon. A further objective is to provide a design which generally allows to provide a robot with improved P/M ra¬ tio. Still a further objective of the invention is to provide a robot which can represent a viable alternative for the robot or robots that are known from the prior art.
To meet one or more of the abovementioned objectives of the invention and/or to provide a solution to any other objective problem which is not yet described above but may become ap¬ parent during processing of this application, the robot of the invention is provided with the features of one or more of the appended claims.
In a first aspect of the invention the robot is embodied with the actuator being placed distant from the tool or tools at the base, and the actuator of the tool or tools being embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
The construction of the robot with five legs, whereby each leg connects at its extremities to the base and the plat¬ form essentially provides the possibility of equipping the robot with five degrees of freedom, wherein the additional degree of freedom as compared to the prior art can be used for operating the tool or tools. The construction of the robot with the actua- tor being placed distant from the tool or tools at the base thereby effectively reduces the weight of the mobile platform, and improves the earlier mentioned P/M ratio.
Similar to the prior art the robot of the invention has legs, each leg having a motor drive at the base. Contrary to the prior art however and very cleverly, in the design of the robot of the invention the actuator of the tool or tools is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
To support meeting this possibility of providing the ro¬ bot with five degrees of freedom, the platform is embodied with members that are rotationally connected to each other with links, wherein each link is provided at an extremity of one leg.
For ease of operation it is further preferable that the tool or tools are supported by a member and/or a link.
It is possible to provide the mobile platform with only a single tool as in the prior art. Advantageously however, the mobile platform supports two tools occupying a distance between each other that is adjustable by the operation of the actuator.
In order to simplify the actuation of the tool or tools, desirably the positions of the motor drives at the base are sym¬ metrical and form an imaginary pentagram. The pentagram accords to the five legs of the robot.
It is further preferable that each of the legs comprises a rotational joint connected to a parallelogram construction comprising the leg's link that connects to the members of the platform at a side distant from the rotational joint.
In its most preferred embodiment the robot of the inven¬ tion with multiple degrees of freedom comprises five legs linked at a first of their ends to a base, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform, wherein the legs have motor drives that are positioned at the base, which platform carries at least one tool, and wherein the robot further comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools, which actuator is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives of the legs.
The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to a schematic drawing pertaining to a robot ac¬ cording to the invention.
In the drawing:
-figure 1 shows a schematic isometric drawing of a robot according to the invention in a first embodiment;
-figure 2 provides a detailed view of the platform of the robot shown in figure 1; and
-figure 3 provides a detailed view of the platform of a robot according to a second embodiment.
Wherever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.
With reference first to figure 1 the robot with multiple degrees of freedom of the invention is denoted with reference 1, comprising multiple legs 2 linked at a first of their ends to a base 3, and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform 4. The platform 4 supports in this embodi¬ ment two tools 5, 6, and the robot 1 further comprises an actua¬ tor for operating the tools 5, 6, the operation of which actua- tor will become apparent from the following description. The mobile platform 4 is in a detailed view shown in figure 2. In the shown embodiment the two tools 5, 6 may be embodied as vacuum grippers, but also other types of tools are feasible.
As figure 1 clearly shows, the robot 1 comprises five legs 2, wherein each leg 2 connects at its extremities to the base 3 and the platform 4. Each of the legs 2 comprises a rota¬ tional joint 10 connected at one end to the base 3, and at the other end to a parallelogram construction 11 that connects to the platform 4. The platform 4 in turn is embodied with members 7 that are rotationally connected to each other with links 8, wherein each link 8 is provided at an extremity of one leg 2. Each leg' s link 8 is thus positioned at a side distant from the rotational joint 10 of the concerning leg 2.
It is further shown in figure 1, but more clearly in figure 2 that the tool or tools 5, 6 are supported by either a member 7 or a link 8. It may be preferable that the mobile plat¬ form 4 supports two tools 5, 6 as in the shown case, which tools 5, 6 then may occupy a distance between each other that is ad- justable by the operation of the robot providing the actuator for said tools 5, 6.
The legs 2 of the robot 1 of the invention each have a motor drive 9 at the base 3, so as to arrange that the actuator of the tool or tools 5, 6 is embodied by the joint operation of these motor drives 9 of the legs 2. The actuator is thus placed distant from the tool or tools 5, 6 and at the base 3 so as to reduce weight on the platform 4. To simplify the operation of the robot 1 it is then desirable that the positions of the motor drives 9 at the base 3 are symmetrical and form an imaginary pentagram.
With reference to figure 3 another embodiment of the platform 4 of the robot of the invention is shown, in which the tool is embodied with gripper fingers 12', 12'' which are actu¬ ated by the above described operation in which the motor drives 9 of the legs 2 operate to control the platform 4 in a manner to arrange that the gripper fingers 12', 12'' occupy a preselected distance between each other. Figure 3 also shows that an addi¬ tional prismatic joint 13 may be placed between the respective gripper fingers 12', 12''.

Claims

1. Robot (1) with multiple degrees of freedom comprising multiple legs (2) linked at a first of their ends to a base (3), and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform (4), which legs (2) each have a motor drive (9) at the base (3) , and which platform carries at least one tool (5, 6, 12', 12''), and wherein the robot (1) further comprises an actuator for operating the tool (12', 12'') or tools (5, 6), and comprises five legs (2), wherein each leg (2) connects at its extremities to the base (3) and to the platform (4), charac- terized in that the actuator is placed distant from the tool
(12', 12'') or tools (5, 6) at the base (3), and that the actua¬ tor of the tool (12', 12'') or tools (5, 6) is embodied by the joint operation of the motor drives (9) of the legs (2) .
2. Robot according to claim 1, characterized in that the platform (4) is embodied with members (7) that are rotationally connected to each other with links (8), wherein each link (8) is provided at an extremity of one leg (2) .
3. Robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the tool (12', 12'') or tools (5, 6) are supported by a member (7) and/or a link (8) .
4. Robot according to anyone of the previous claims, characterized in that the mobile platform (4) supports two tools (5, 6) occupying a distance between each other that is adjust¬ able by the operation of the actuator.
5. Robot according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the positions of the motor drives (9) at the base (3) are symmetrical and form an imaginary pentagram.
6. Robot according to anyone of the previous claims, characterized in that each of the legs (2) comprises a rota- tional joint (10) connected to a parallelogram construction (11) having the leg's link (8) at a side distant from the rotational joint (10) .
7. Robot with multiple degrees of freedom comprising five legs (2) linked at a first of their ends to a base (3), and at a second of their ends opposite to the first ends to a mobile platform (4), wherein the legs (2) have motor drives (9) that are positioned at the base (3), which platform (4) carries at least one tool (5, 6, 12', 12''), and wherein the robot (1) fur¬ ther comprises an actuator for operating the tool or tools (5, 6), which actuator is embodied by the joint operation of the mo¬ tor drives (9) of the legs (2) .
EP11703503A 2010-01-28 2011-01-27 Parallel kinematics robot with five legs Withdrawn EP2528715A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL2004167A NL2004167C2 (en) 2010-01-28 2010-01-28 Robot with multiple degrees of freedom.
PCT/NL2011/050051 WO2011093703A1 (en) 2010-01-28 2011-01-27 Parallel kinematics robot with five legs

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2528715A1 true EP2528715A1 (en) 2012-12-05

Family

ID=42270267

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP11703503A Withdrawn EP2528715A1 (en) 2010-01-28 2011-01-27 Parallel kinematics robot with five legs

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2528715A1 (en)
NL (1) NL2004167C2 (en)
WO (1) WO2011093703A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN102975197A (en) * 2012-12-04 2013-03-20 天津大学 Parallel manipulator with three-dimensional translation and two-dimensional rotation degree of freedom
NL2010970C2 (en) * 2013-06-14 2014-12-17 Penta Robotics Patents B V MAGNETIC GLOBE HINGE AND ROBOT EQUIPPED WITH THE GLOBE HINGE.
NL2013948B1 (en) * 2014-12-10 2016-10-11 Univ Delft Tech Robot with multiple degrees of freedom.
CN105171717B (en) * 2015-08-03 2017-04-19 电子科技大学 Foldable six-freedom-degree parallel motion platform
JP6765221B2 (en) * 2016-05-30 2020-10-07 Ntn株式会社 Work equipment using a parallel link mechanism
US11945111B2 (en) * 2019-03-06 2024-04-02 UNIVERSITé LAVAL Parallel mechanism with kinematically redundant actuation

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DE2800273A1 (en) * 1978-01-04 1979-07-12 Farkas Gyoergy Dipl Ing Programmed robot control system - has position control devices connected by amplifiers to tape recorder heads for programming purposes
US4776749A (en) * 1986-03-25 1988-10-11 Northrop Corporation Robotic device
DE19840886C2 (en) * 1998-09-08 2003-03-13 Juergen Hesselbach Movement device with parallel structure
US7337691B2 (en) * 1999-08-05 2008-03-04 Shambhu Nath Roy Parallel kinematics mechanism with a concentric spherical joint
DE10153854C1 (en) * 2001-11-02 2003-06-12 Fraunhofer Ges Forschung Movement and / or positioning device
SE524747C2 (en) * 2002-02-06 2004-09-28 Abb Ab Industrial robot containing a parallel kinematic manipulator for moving an object in space
JP3931296B2 (en) * 2003-03-27 2007-06-13 株式会社ジェイテクト 4-DOF parallel robot
ES2258917B1 (en) * 2005-02-17 2007-12-01 Fundacion Fatronik PARALLEL ROBOT WITH FOUR DEGREES OF HIGH SPEED FREEDOM.

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2011093703A1 (en) 2011-08-04
NL2004167C2 (en) 2011-07-29

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