A robot control apparatus includes a drive controller configured to control a plurality of motors which are configured to drive a plurality of link mechanisms of a parallel link robot, respectively, and abnormality determination circuitry configured to determine based on state data of the plurality of motors whether at least one of collision of the parallel link robot and dislocation in the link mechanisms occurs.

In one aspect, a translational parallel manipulator is provided and includes a fixed platform including three guide members. The three guide members include first ends and second ends, and the first ends of the three guide members are all coupled to each other and the second ends of the three guide members are all spaced-apart from each other. The manipulator also includes a movable platform spaced-apart from the fixed platform and three serial subchains coupled between the three guide members and the movable platform. In one aspect, a translational parallel manipulator is provided and includes a fixed platform, a movable platform spaced-apart from the fixed platform, and a plurality of subchains coupled between the fixed platform and the movable platform. At least one of the plurality of subchains includes no more than four one degree-of-freedom joints.

A device includes a frame having a plurality of rails, each rail including a slider. A first rail support member is connected to a first end of the plurality of rails, and a second rail support member is connected to a second end of the plurality of rails. The second end is opposite the first end. A plurality of arms is connected to the sliders. Each arm includes a ball joint at one end connected to one of the sliders. Each arm includes another end, opposite the one end, connected to a platform via a hinge joint. The platform is configured to roll and pitch via changing positions of the sliders along the plurality of rails.

The invention relates an apparatus for analysing movement of an arrangement made of a plurality of bodies assigned to a platform, of which at least one is provided with a drive, in particular of the hexapod type or of the articulated arm type, having means for vibration analysis and/or force analysis. According to the invention, the apparatus has in a modular construction a vibration analysis module for analytically determining natural vibration modes of the bodies and/or of the platform in respect of at least one of the following variables: frequency, centre of rotation of the torsional component of the vibrations, axis of rotation of torsional vibration, displacement vector of a Cartesian vibration, amplitude ratio of the vibrations in relation to one another, and/or a force analysis module for analytically determining the acceleration forces and/or weights and/or torques, occurring on a predetermined trajectory, in respect of the bodies and/or the platform.

A controller for a parallel link mechanism includes a drive control unit that controls driving of a parallel link mechanism and a command section that gives a command for controlling an actuator to the drive control unit. The command section includes a natural frequency prediction unit that calculates a predicted value string of a natural frequency changing depending on the position of an end effector for each interpolation position of the end effector by using a dynamic model that simulates a mechanical system from a base to a link joint of the parallel link mechanism with a translational spring and simulates a mechanical system from the link joint to the end effector with one rigid body. The drive control unit includes a filter that changes a frequency component to be suppressed for each interpolation positions according to a predicted value string at each interpolation position of the end effector.

An apparatus is described for robotic control of an ultrasound imaging device. The apparatus comprises a fixed base and a movable platform with an end-effector. A plurality of passive soft links connects the platform to the base. A series of cables connect the platform to a set of motors adjacent the base. When the platform is at rest, the tension in the cables counter-balances the passive soft links pushing the platform away from the base plate. Control electronics move the motors so as to control the location and the orientation of the platform. By increasing or decreasing tension in the cables, the motors smoothly control the location and the orientation of the platform and thus the end effector. Such a robotic apparatus can be used to provide expert handling of an ultrasound imaging device remotely.

A gap detection device includes: a measurement unit measuring the driving torque or current value of a motor when the robot is actually being operated along an arbitrary motion trajectory; a simulation unit setting an arbitrary second gap amount between pairing elements of a plurality of pairing elements, performing a simulation in which the robot operates along the same arbitrary motion trajectory, and estimating the driving torque or the current value of the motor; a feature amount calculation unit calculating a first feature amount indicating fluctuations of a value related to the measured driving torque or current value, and a second feature amount indicating fluctuations of a value related to the estimated driving torque or current value; and a gap calculation unit calculating an index related to a first gap amount on the basis of the first feature amount, the second feature amount, and the second gap amount.

An operation method for a link actuating device provided with a target value input unit having a height direction target value input portion that allows input of a movement amount in a height direction or a coordinate position in the height direction, which causes the distal end posture of the link actuating device to be changed only in the height direction along a central axis of a proximal end side link hub. An input converter is provided to calculate, by using an inputted value, a target distal end posture of the link actuating device. The input converter further calculates a command operation amount of each actuator from the result of the calculation, and inputs the command operation amount to the control device.

An operation command generator includes: an area division unit configured to divide a line on a flat work surface of a target workpiece W into a straight area and a corner area, using a sharp boundary surface; a straight area operation command generation unit configured to generate a command for operating only the linear motion mechanism while keeping the posture of the parallel link mechanism fixed, in the straight area; and a corner area operation command generation unit configured to generate a command so that an acting point of the end effector passes on the boundary surface at a substantially constant speed by the linear motion mechanism and the parallel link mechanism performing coordinated operations in the corner area.

A suspension cable robot is provided, its stability can be improved by using at least three groups of three cables arranged in a parallelogram manner. The ability to remain stable when subjected to forces acting on the robot platform or end effector is thereby significantly increased.