A PNEUMATIC PARALLEL MANIPULATORWITE SERVO AND ASi INTEGRATED CONTROLS

摘要

The paper describes the main aspects of a research activity oriented to the design and the realisation of a simplified pneumatic parallel manipulator in which the primary actuation is made by means of linear servo-axles and the end effector tasks are satisfied applying an Actuator Sensor interface (ASi) distributed control.rnThe main aspects related to the application of innovative pneumatic drives in parallel kinematic units are focussed and discussed. The proposed prototype involves three slim pneumatic servo-axles, driven by piezo-electric proportional valves, equipped with low-cost linear position transducers and linked through spherical joints to three couple of bars and to the platform. On the platform three manipulation units, controlled by ASi, simulate typical tasks of an automatic pick-and-place device. The synchronisation between the movements is realised by means an industrial personal computer (IPC).