Development of a model-based control system for the Gantry-Tau parallel kinematic machine

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a control system for the Gantry-Tau Parallel Kinematic Machine, based in the motion behaviour of the robot, verification stages of the model and testing with an actual prototype. The Gantry-Tau is a parallel robot where its structure offers additional characteristics not found in other models like high dexterity, large workspace and high reconfiguration. Still, the robot is undergoing through design at different levels. The model-based control system was made in Matlab/Simulink and includes the kinematics of the Gantry-Tau. Also, the system was verified using SimulationX for allowing a quick progress through the project. The tests were made using an extended version of the mentioned Matlab/Simulink program loaded into the Gantry-Tau prototype. This extension includes standard programming levels in robotics like path planning and a controller for the system. The results in this thesis permit the development of other characteristics of the Gantry-Tau, and to be used as an example for the modelling and study of other parallel kinematic machines.