Heavy tools manipulation by low powered direct-drive five-bar parallel robot

This paper presents a simple and available system for manipulation of heavy tools by low powered manipulator for industrial applications. In the heavy manufacturing industries, sometimes, heavy tools are employed for different types of work. But the application of robots with heavy tools is not possible due to the limited torque limits of actuators. Suspended tool systems (STS) have been proposed to manipulate heavy tools by low powered robot-arm for this purpose. A low powered five-bar direct-drive parallel manipulator is designed and constructed to manipulate heavy tools suspended from a spring balancer. The validity, usefulness, and effectiveness of the suspended tool system are shown by experimental results.