Measurement of the axial forces and rotation torques in case of hexapod type machine tools

The paper presents a new trend regarding the use of hexapod type structures in machine tool construction. It presents an original solution of kinematic structure for mobile platforms that support the workpiece gripping devices, which can be easily mounted on universal drilling and milling machines. The paper also presents some original approaches for the measuring system of the axial forces and rotation torques of the elements sustaining the mobile platform for parallel kinematic structures. Also, presented are the advantages offered by such a measuring system. The calibration diagrams are depicted for the measuring channels in the case of direct conversion from the measured electrical signals to force and torque measurement units. The paper also indicates means for connecting the measuring system to the machine numerical commands in order to integrate it with the corresponding software. Since the movements of the sustaining platform are rather complex, appropriate computer aided modeling software is used for machine programming.