Electro-Mechanical Co-Simulation of a 6-DOF Parallel Robot

Parallel robot has the advantages of high precision, high stiffness, fast speed and strong bearing capacity. When applied in 3D printing, it can avoid the defects caused by the vertical direction layer by layer accumulation additive manufacturing mode, and the 3D printing equipment with 6-DOF parallel robot can print 3D entities with complex shape and smooth surface without support. In order to increase the design efficiency and verify the correctness of the mechanical and control system of a 6-DOF parallel robot used in a 3D printer, an electro-mechanical co-simulation method of the parallel robot was realized based on the electro-mechanical model created using interface technology between ADAMS and MATLAB. First, kinematics mathematical model was built based on theory of inverse kinematics of parallel robots. Then, simulation of kinematics was performed after the virtual prototype of the 6-DOF robot was created in ADAMS, and the simulation results were consistent with the theoretical calculation. Then, the model of electro-mechanical system of the 6-DOF parallel robot was established by embedding the ADAMS virtual prototype into the control model of MATLAB. Finally, step and sinusoidal function responses of the 6-DOF parallel robot pose were studied respectively. The simulation results show that the 6-DOF parallel robot has a high steady accuracy and good dynamic performance, and the simulation parameters provide the necessary design basis for the development of the 6-DOF parallel robot.