This paper deals with high-speed robots for pick-and-place applications with a high rate of output. After mentioning the families of robot architectures that meet the specifications of pick-and-place, parallel kinematics architectures with articulated moving platform are introduced and described. Indeed, this concept seems very promising for this kind of application. After presenting the reasons to select the PAR4 architecture, it is fully described and modelled: position relationships, velocity relationships, and simplified dynamic model. Experimental results from extensive testing show a high performance potentiality. By analysing the experimental results, an improvement is proposed to have a better dynamic balance among the actuators. The improved version of the robot is the one chosen for the industrial development of the QUATTRO parallel robot.
HervéJ. M.‘Group mathematics and parallel link mechanisms.’ In 9th World Congress on the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, Milan, Italy, 30 August—2 September 1995, Vol. 3, pp. 2079–2082.
2.
RollandL.‘The manta and the kanuk: Novel 4-dof parallel mechanisms for industrial handling.’ In ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division, IMECE'99 Conference, Nashville, USA, November 1999, pp. 831–844.
3.
PierrotF.CompanyO.‘H4: a new family of 4-dof parallel robots.’ In AIM'99: IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, September 1999, pp. 508–513.
4.
ThurneysenM.SchnyderM.ClavelR.JiovanolaJ.‘A new parallel kinematics for high speed machine tools hita STT.’ In Development methods and application experience of parallel kinematics. Proceedings of the 3rd Chemnitz Parallel Kinematics Seminar PKS2002 (Ed. NeugebauerR.), 2002, Vol. 16, pp. 553–562 (Chemnitz, Germany).
5.
AngelesJ.‘The degree of freedom of parallel robots: a group theoretic approach.’ In Proceedings of IEEE ICRA: International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, Spain, April 2005, pp. 1017–1024.
6.
CompanyO.PierrotF.NabatV.de la RodruiguezM. O.‘Schoenflies motion generator: a new non redundant parallel manipulator with unlimited rotation capability.’ In Proceedings of IEEE ICRA: International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, Spain, April 2005, pp. 3261–3266.
7.
GoughV. E.‘Contribution to discussion of papers on research in automotive stability, control and tyre performance.’ In Proceedings of Automobile Division, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, 1956–1957.
8.
ClavelR.‘Delta, a fast robot with parallel geometry.’ In 18th International Symposium on Industrial Robots, Lausanne, April 1988, pp. 91–100 (IFS Publications).
9.
CompanyO.KrutS.PierrotF.‘Internal singularity analysis of a class of lower mobility parallel manipulators with articulated traveling plate.’IEEE Trans. Robotics22 (1) (2006): 1–11
10.
CompanyO.KrutS.PierrotF.‘Modelling of a 4 axis parallel machine for heavy parts handling.’ In Development methods and application experience of parallel kinematics. Proceedings of the 3rd Chemnitz Parallel Kinematics Seminar PKS2002 (Ed. NeugebauerR.), 2002, Vol. 16, pp. 151–168 (Chemnitz, Germany).
11.
KrutS.NabatV.CompanyO.PierrotF.‘A high speed robot for scara motions.’ In Proceedings of IEEE ICRA: International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, USA, 26 April—1 May 2004.
12.
KrutS.CompanyO.NabatV.PierrotF.‘Heli4: a parallel robot for scara motions with a very compact travelling plate and a symmetrical design.’ In Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ IROS 2006: International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing, China, 9–15 October 2006.
13.
NabatV.CompanyO.KrutO. S.de la RodriguezM.PierrotF.‘Par4: Very high speed parallel robot for pick and place.’ In Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ IROS 2005: International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2–6 August 2005.
14.
CompanyO.Machines-outils rapides à structure parallèle. Méthodologie de conception, applications et nouveaux concepts PhD Thesis, Université Montpellier II, France, December 2000.
KhalilW.IbrahimO.‘General solution for the dynamic modeling of parallel robots.’ In Proceedings of IEEE ICRA International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, USA, 26 April—1 May 2004.
17.
NabatV.CompanyO.PierrotF.PoignetP.‘Dynamic modelling and identification of par4, a very high-speed parallel manipulator.’ In Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ IROS 2006: International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing, China, 9—15 October 2006.
18.
CodoureyA.Contribution à la commande des robots rapides et précis PhD Thesis, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1991.
