Parametric optimal design of a parallel Schönflies-motion robot under pick-and-place trajectory constraints

This paper deals with the parametric optimum design of a parallel Schönflies-motion robot, named “Ragnar”, designed for fast and flexible pick-and-place applications. The robot architecture admits a rectangular workspace, which can utilize the shop-floor space efficiently. In this work, the parametric models of the transmission quality, elasto-statics and dynamics are established. By taking into consideration of design requirements and pick-and-place trajectory, a comprehensive multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to optimize both kinematic and dynamic performances. The Pareto-front is obtained, which provides optimal solutions to the robot design. Robot prototyping work based on the optimal results is described.