New resolution scheme of the forward kinematics of parallel manipulators using extra sensors

Abstract

This paper presents a new closed-form resolution scheme of the forward kinematics of parallel manipulators based on two concepts, local structurization and mechanism partition. This scheme is applied to 6-DOF Stewart platform manipulators and the effectiveness of this scheme is verified through numerical examples. It is shown that one extra sensor is sufficient for both 3-3 SPM and 6-3 SPM to exactly resolve the forward kinematic problem (FKP) in closed form and two sensors for 6-6 SPM. In previous research, at least three extra sensors were needed for closed-form resolution of the FKP for 6-6 SPM. Consequently, the new resolution scheme is efficient to implement and easy for real-time applications for the control of parallel manipulators.