Design and control of an end-effector module for industrial finishing applications

A parallel mechanism has advantages such as high stiffness, low inertia and compact in size. It is a desired mechanical structure to be used as the mini manipulator in a macro-mini manipulator system. In this paper, a 3-DOF parallel mechanism is presented. The end-effector module will serve as the mini manipulator in a macro-mini system for in-contact industrial finishing applications such as polishing and deburring. Mechanical design for the end-effector module takes account of both the desired properties for a mini manipulator as well as the nature of the industrial applications. The end-effector can be controlled to perform different tasks including position and force controlled ones with a high accuracy and fast response.