Development and Investigation of a Parallel Robot with Three Horizontal Sliders for Steel Snagging

In this paper, the kinematics, workspace, statics, dynamics of a parallel robot with three translational degrees of freedom for steel snagging are introduced. The parallel robot consists of three tracks referred to as the base platform, a movable platform, two connecting legs and a translational-motion mechanism referred to as the third leg. Its kinematics equation as well as and the Jacobian matrix is simple and explicit. Its workspace is larger. The effective workspace is a triangular camber pyramid. There is no singularity configuration and motion coupling in the whole motion space. There is no uncertainty position. The maneuverability is easy. Its maximum section and work depth are both large. The driving forces and the side direction forces of the sliders change continuously and smoothly. There is no impact. The parallel robot has good accelerate and dynamics performances within workspace. The steel-conditioning grinding experiments have also been carried out. The wheel selection, removal rate, grinding power and their influence factors are studied. Comparing with hanging grinders used in most steel mills of our country, this robotic grinder can reduce labor intensity of workers, raise efficiency and guarantee quality greatly. The parallel robot is fit for many manufacturing forms besides steel spot snagging because of its unique performance.