Analysis of Optimal Cable Configurations in the Design of a 3-DOF Cable-Driven Robot Leg

The operational workspace of a cable-driven serial robot is largely dictated by the choice of cable placement and routing. As robot complexity increases with additional cables and degrees of freedom, the problem of designing a cable architecture can quickly become challenging.This paper builds upon a previously described methodology to identify and analyze optimal cable configurations, expanding the approach to a 3-DoF robot leg driven by four cables. The methodology is used to analyze configuration trends in the routing and placement of the cables which achieve the desired range of motion for the robot. The results of the analysis are used to inform the design of a cable architecture which is shown to be capable of controlling the robot through the desired task.Copyright © 2014 by ASME