A 4-DoF Parallel Robot With a Built-in Gripper for Waste Sorting

Abstract

This article presents a new robot concept dedicated to fast and energy-efficient waste sorting applications. This parallel robot can provide at the same time the three translations in space (3-DoF) and the opening/closing of a built-in gripper (1 additional DoF). The movement of the clamp is enabled thanks to a configurable platform at the end of the parallel structure. This platform is composed of a two-gear train gripper which is directly controlled by the 4 actuators attached to the base of the manipulator. The inverse kinematic as well as the differential models have been developed. A first prototype has been realized to validate this new parallel architecture for pick-and-toss tasks.