Singularity robustness of the 3RPS parallel manipulator by using the damped-rate resolved-acceleration control

A novel singularity control method for a fully parallel robot manipulator was proposed in this paper. The damped least-square method has frequently been used to solve the singularity problem of resolved-acceleration control schemes. It works by damping accelerations of the end-effector, so that accelerations in the degenerated directions are zero at a singular point. However, its velocities may not be zero in some situations, in those cases they will encounter fluctuations around the singular point. In this paper, the control using damped velocity, being called the damped-rate resolved-acceleration control scheme (DRRAC) is proposed to overcome this drawback. We will show that the DRRAC is asymptotically stable, and discuss its convergent properties. The main advantage of the DRRAC in the 3RPS parallel manipulator control system is not to plan its path to avoid the singular point, and could improve the workspace. Illustrative examples are given to show its effectiveness in practical applications, and experimental results are taken to verify the proposed control scheme.