Double-Cable Parallel Robot With Offset Cable Ends for Stable Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cable-driven robots face challenges in achieving efficient, cost-effective, and stable inspection of large volumes with drones being unsafe and large-sized Cartesian gates being expensive and difficult to deploy.
Innovation Solution
A cable-driven parallel robot with a movable platform suspended by pairs of cables, each connected to a winding assembly that synchronously winds or unwinds, featuring vertical and horizontal offsets of cable ends to enhance stability and safety, and includes a control system for degraded mode operation upon cable breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a minimum of seven or eight cables is used to ensure platform stability and six degrees of freedom, then the platform achieves satisfactory control precision and stability, but the structure becomes complex and bulky, increasing the mass of the movable platform
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cable system into multiple pairs of cables (typically four pairs), where each pair works together to control specific degrees of freedom. This segmentation allows the system to achieve full 6-DOF control while reducing the total cable count from 7-8 to 6, simplifying the overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines two cables into a paired configuration where each pair controls a specific rotational degree of freedom. By merging the functions of multiple individual cables into coordinated pairs, the system achieves the same stability and control precision with fewer total cables, reducing structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of cables is increased to more than eight to provide redundancy and increase rotation possibility, then the platform gains enhanced stability and rotation capability, but the risk of cable collisions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric cable routing and pairing configurations within each pair, where the two cables in a pair follow different spatial paths. This asymmetry allows the cables to rotate and reposition without colliding with each other, enabling enhanced rotation capability while avoiding the harmful effect of cable collisions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes three-dimensional spatial arrangement of cable pairs, positioning cables at different heights and angles. This dimensional distribution allows cables to move freely in multiple directions without intersecting, increasing rotation capability while preventing cable collisions.
3Reliability
If conventional cable-driven parallel robot structures are used to ensure execution speed and stability, then the platform achieves reliable operation, but the movable platform structure becomes complex and bulky, affecting the mass to be moved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates redundant structural elements from conventional cable-driven parallel robots. By using only six cables arranged in three pairs instead of seven or eight cables, the system removes unnecessary components, reducing the mass of the movable platform while maintaining operation reliability through the paired cable configuration.
4Ease of manufacture
If drones are used for inspection of large volumes, then the system is simple and easy to deploy, but safety is compromised due to risk of falling and lack of repeatability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs cable pairs that function as counterbalancing systems, where the two cables in each pair work together to prevent uncontrolled movement and falling. This anti-weight mechanism provides inherent safety by mechanically counteracting gravitational forces, ensuring the platform remains stable and controllable throughout inspection operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides stable, safe, and cost-effective inspection with reduced oscillations and collisions, ensuring reliable operation even in the event of cable failure.
Implementation Method 1
winding assemblies, each winding assembly being connected to a pair of associated cables among the cables and configured to synchronously wind or unwind the associated pair of cables
Implementation Method 2
each of the cables having a cable strand configured to be tensioned between a first strand end connected to the movable platform, and a second strand end connected to a structure fixed in space
Implementation Method 3
The stability of such a platform in a given position is generally ensured by its static equilibrium, which equilibrium is ensured by the tension of the cables that act so as to oppose the external forces to which the platform is subjected
Data Source
AI summary
A cable-driven parallel robot that includes a movable platform intended to be suspended by cables, each of the cables having one cable strand configured to be tensioned between a first strand end connected to the movable platform and a second strand end connected to a structure fixed in space; and winding assemblies, each winding assembly being connected to a pair of associated cables from among the cables and being configured to synchronously wind the pair of associated cables; the cable-driven parallel robot being characterized in that when the platform occupies a reference orientation relative to the vertical, the first strand ends of the cables in a single pair of cables are vertically and horizontally offset from one another.