Structure design and task planning of reconfigurable Parallel Kinematic Machines system

Reconfigurable Parallel Kinematic Machine (PKM) consists of an inventory of interchangeable modules. This paper presents a kind of structural design of reconfigurable PKMs. The method of modularizing and integrating is proposed to design modules, and a reconfiguration state-representation method is developed. Based on this description, a Petri Net is applied to the modeling reconfiguration system process in reconfiguration task planning. A set of optimal or approximate optimal reconfiguration sequences by using some effect algorithms is invested and generated. The reconfiguration cost matrix (RCM) is used to figure out dynamic cost in reconfiguration system.