Parallel Manipulators : New Developments

Abstract

Parallel manipulators are characterized as having closed-loop kinematic chains. Compared to serial manipulators, which have open-ended structure, parallel manipulators have many advantages in terms of accuracy, rigidity and ability to manipulate heavy loads. Therefore, they have been getting many attentions in astronomy to flight simulators and especially in machine-tool industries.The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in parallel manipulators. This book mainly introduces advanced kinematic and dynamic analysis methods and cutting edge control technologies for parallel manipulators. Even though this book only contains several samples of research activities on parallel manipulators, I believe this book can give an idea to the reader about what has been done in the field recently, and what kind of open problems are in this area.