Parallel Robots

5.4 Virtual Work Formulation

One of the most convenient approaches to derive dynamic formulation of a parallel manipulator is based on the principle of virtual work. In this method, the inertial forces and moments are computed using the linear and angular accelerations of each rigid body. Then, the whole manipulator is considered to be in static equilibrium and the principle of virtual work is applied to derive the actuator forces [186]. Since constraint forces and moments do not need to be computed, this approach yields faster computational algorithms compared to that of the Newton–Euler approach.

5.4.1 D’Alembert’s Principle

The Newton–Euler ...