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This paper introduces a real-time capable tension distribution algorithm for n degree-of-freedom cable-driven parallel robots (CDPR) actuated by n+2 cables. It is based on geometric considerations applied to the two-dimensional convex polytope of feasible cable tension distribution. This polytope is defined as the intersection between the set of inequality constraints on the cable tension values and the affine space of tension solutions to the mobile platform static or dynamic equilibrium. The algorithm proposed in this paper is dedicated to n degree-of-freedom CDPR actuated by n + 2 cables. Indeed, it takes advantage of the two-dimensional nature of the corresponding feasible tension distribution convex polytope to improve the computational efficiency of a tension distribution strategy proposed elsewhere. The fast computation of the polytope vertices and of its barycenter made us successfully validate the real-time compatibility of the presented algorithm.

Cable-driven parallel robots (CDPR) are efficient manipulators able to carry heavy payloads across large workspaces. Therefore, the dynamic parameters such as the mobile platform mass and center of mass location may considerably vary. Without any adaption, the erroneous parametric estimate results in mismatch terms added to the closed-loop system, which may decrease the robot performances. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive dual-space motion control scheme for CDPR. The proposed method aims at increasing the robot tracking performances, while keeping all the cable tensed despite uncertainties and changes in the robot dynamic parameters. Reel-time experimental tests, performed on a large redundantly actuated CDPR prototype, validate the efficiency of the proposed control scheme. These results are compared to those obtained with a non-adaptive dual-space feedforward control scheme.

Redundancy resolution of redundantly actuated cable-driven parallel robots (CDPRs) requires the computation of feasible and continuous cable tension distributions along a trajectory. This paper focuses on n-DOF CDPRs driven by n+2 cables since, for n = 6, these redundantly actuated CDPRs are relevant in many applications. The set of feasible cable tensions of n-DOF n+2-cable CDPRs is a two-dimensional convex polygon. An algorithm that determines the vertices of this polygon in a clockwise or counterclockwise order is first introduced. This algorithm is efficient and can deal with infeasibility. It is then pointed out that straightforward modifications of this algorithm allow the determination of various (optimal) cable tension distributions. A self-contained and versatile tension distribution algorithm is thereby obtained. Moreover, the worst-case maximum number of iterations of this algorithm is established. Based on this result, its computational cost is analyzed in detail, showing that the algorithm is efficient and real-time compatible even in the worst case. Finally, experiments on two 6-DOF 8-cable CDPR prototypes are reported.

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As a part of an ongoing project, in this paper we introduce the first version of a system which has a novel methodology for Cine (as in cinema) MRI based control of a cardiac robot for beating heart surgeries. The system uses the preoperative planning approach that we developed earlier, and integrates it to the intraoperative algorithms for controlling a robot and tracking some specific landmarks of a highly dynamical surgical field. In particular, our late studies presented herein aim to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating appropriate computational tools to achieve the volumetric image guidance for minimally invasive surgeries in the beating heart. We conceive of the system as practicable for in vitro experiments upon the completion of the first physical prototype, which may pave the way for expansion of the approach for other complex surgeries as well.

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