Virtual Prototyping of a Parallel Robot actuated by Servo-Pneumatic Drives using
ADAMS/Controls
Walter Kuhlbusch, Dr. Rüdiger Neumann, Festo AG & Co., Germany
Summary
Advanced pneumatic drives for servo-pneumatic positioning allow for new
generations of handlings and robots. Especially parallel robots actuated by
servo-pneumatic drives allow the realization of very fast pick and place tasks in 3-D
space. The design of those machines requires a virtual prototyping method called the
mechatronic design [ 1]. The most suitable software tools are ADAMS for mechanics
and Matlab/Simulink for drives and controllers. To analyze the overall behavior the
co-simulation using ADAMS/Controls is applied. The combination of these powerful
simulation tools guarantees a fast and effective design of new machines.
1. Introduction
Festo is a supplier for pneumatic components and controls in industrial
utilization of pneumatic drives is wide spread in industry when working in open loop
control. It’s limited however, when it com
es to multipoint movement or path control.
The development has been driven to servo-pneumatic drives that include closed
loop control. Festo servo-pneumatic axes are quite accurate, thus they can be
employed as drives for sophisticated tasks in robotics. The special advantage of
these drives is the low initial cost in comparison to electrical and hydraulic drive
systems. Servo-pneumatic driven parallel robots are new systems with high
potentials in applications. The dynamical performance meets the increasing
requirements to reduce the cycle times.
One goal is the creation and optimization of pneumatic driven multi-axes robots.
This allows us to support our customers, and of course to create new standard
handlings and robots (Fig. 1).
The complexity of parallel robots requires the use of virtual prototyping methods.