Modeling and Simulation of Spherical Parallel Manipulators in CoppeliaSim (V-REP) Robot Simulator Software

This paper presents a new methodology for modeling and simulation of spherical parallel manipulators (SPM) in CoppeliaSim (V-REP) robot simulator software. Using a SPM with coaxial input shafts as the case study, the steps for the robot SolidWorks CAD model importing, modeling in CoppeliaSim and interfacing with MATLAB for external control of the robot model are described in detail. The SPM motion simulation results are then presented and verified on an experimental 3D-printed system prototype.