Development of a large parallel‐cable manipulator for the feed‐supporting system of a next‐generation large radio telescope

Abstract

Abstract A large parallel‐cable manipulator for the feed‐supporting system of a next‐generation large radio telescope is presented in this paper. The approximate kinematics model of the system is developed to improve real‐time controllability, and the rationality of this approximation is validated by a kinematics accuracy analysis. In order to guarantee the effectiveness of control, the singularity of the large parallel‐cable manipulator is analyzed (including kinematics and force singularities). The control strategy of the parallel‐cable feed‐supporting system is also proposed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.