Workspace analysis of cable-suspended robots with elastic cable

This paper presents a kinematics and workspace analysis of cable-suspended manipulators with elastic cable. The mechanics of extensible cable with a deflection to its self-weight are studied. The problem of evaluating the workspace is approached by using a modified formulation for a deformable cable. The proposed algorithm for testing whether a given configuration lies within the reachable workspace is applied. Starting with a general statement of the kinetic equations of the elastic cable and incorporate cable flexibility into workspace generation. This algorithm is verified through simulation results of various cable-suspended robots.