PKM capabilities and applications exploration in a collaborative virtual environment

This paper introduces an integrated validation system that consists of the following modular components: kinematic/dynamic analysis module, kinetostatic model, CAD module, FEM module, CAM module, optimization module and virtual environment for remote control. In this paper, authors focus mainly on the modules of kinetostatic modeling, dynamic modeling, PKM design optimization and remote control realization. The prototype of a 3-dof Parallel Kinematic Machine (PKM) developed at the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute of National Research Council of Canada (NRC-IMTI) is used as an example throughout this paper.