Development of a Low-Cost Force Control System for a Cable-Driven Parallel Robot

This paper presents a low-cost force control system for a cable-driven parallel robot. Cable-driven parallel robots offer significant advantages regarding workspace size, flexibility, cost and safety compared to the more common robotic arms. These characteristics make them a suitable candidate for educational and domestic use, however, the choice of models even for industrial purposes is very limited to nonexistent. This work is one key step in the development process of a low-cost cable-driven parallel robot, that is intended to be build and operated by non experts. A critical requirement for cable-driven robots is maintaining proper cable tension to prevent the cables from slipping off sheaves or other guiding structures, which can lead to tangling and system failure. Traditionally, this is achieved using expensive sensors and high-speed control systems, making these robots prohibitively expensive for educational and domestic applications. The work presented in this paper addresses this issue by utilizing low-cost sensors and microcontrollers in a way which overcomes the individual sensors limitations in accuracy or sampling rate. The proposed force control strategy is designed to work within the constraints of these affordable components, ensuring that the target force is consistently achieved, even during robot movement.