FLATNESS-BASED CONTROL OF A PARALLEL ROBOT ACTUATED BY PNEUMATIC MUSCLES

Abstract This paper presents a flatness-based control for a two-degree-of-freedom parallel robot driven by two pairs of pneumatic muscle actuators. The robot consists of a light-weight closed-chain structure with four moving links connected by revolute joints. The two base joints are active and driven by pairs of pneumatic muscles by means of a toothed belt and pulley. Exploiting differential flatness with end-effector position and mean muscle pressures as flat outputs, a cascaded trajectory control is designed. Simulation results demonstrate an excellent control performance and point out the potential of this novel robot.