Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rcim

A Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robot for improving end-users' mobility

in an urban environment
Gianni Castelli, Erika Ottaviano n, Pierluigi Rea
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Via G. Di Biasio 43, Cassino 03043, FR, Italy

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the near future, the flexibility and safety of robotic systems will allow them to interact directly with a
Received 26 September 2012 patient without the need for an operator which will, at most, have to switch a system on or off. In this
Received in revised form new scenario, end-users will have more chance of attaining enhanced independence and comfort in their
8 November 2013
daily life, even in outdoor activities, by using a simple and safe technology. In this paper we propose
Accepted 10 November 2013
Available online 30 November 2013
Cable System for Improving Mobility (CaSIMo), which has been developed with the aim of improving the
mobility of end-users in an urban environment as regards traversing architectural barriers like canals or
Keywords: roads, when classical solutions such as bridges cannot be adopted. The cable system has been developed
Cable-suspended robots for large-scale handling (or aiding transfer) for applications in urban, civil and naval environments. The
Assisting device
main issue of the system proposed, which belongs to the class of Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robots
Modeling and simulation
(CCSR), is that it can provide translational motion of the suspended end-effector, and may thus be
Experimental activity
considered well suited to a number of applications including that proposed herein. In this paper we focus
our attention on a spatial version designed to improve the mobility of end-users in an urban
environment. In particular, modeling for kinetostatic and dynamic analyses are proposed and discussed.
The proposed system does not require structures of large dimensions, and its environmental impact can
thus be greatly reduced with regard to other analogous devices. Moreover, it has a low-cost design
if compared to other systems such as bridges, and can be installed and removed relatively easily.
A laboratory prototype of the planar version has been built for experimental tests. Dynamic simulations
of the large-scale spatial version have been reported to show the engineering significance of the
proposed design in both nominal operation and critical conditions, i.e. in the case of a cable breaking.
& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction to overcome these obstacles and improve the mobility of people

with a motor impairment.
There is a high motivation for people with a motion disability Two categories of solutions can generally be adopted: the
to perform basic daily-living activities independently. It is there- structural change of the barriers, i.e., they are removed, or the
fore currently of great interest to design and implement safe and installation of auxiliary devices. The structural change of barriers
reliable devices that are able to help end-users and provide them requires substantial variations being made to the obstacles that
with a better quality of life, in order to give everyone an identical prevent mobility. Thus, if we take as an example the problem of
professional, civil and social opportunity. Many efforts have been crossing a road, the changes required might concern a fairly small
devoted to the development of the concept of Home & Building entity, such as the creation of an inclined plane to assist in access
Automation, but little has been done for the city concept. In fact, to the sidewalk, or a large entity, such as the construction of a
there are several architectural barriers, not only in old European pedestrian underpass. The use of auxiliary devices involves the
cities, but even in more modern constructions, that limit the installation of rather bulky and complex systems that can improve
mobility of people with motor impairment, such as stairs, rivers, the mobility of people with motion disability. The proposed design
roads, canals, and so on. In this context, the main issue therefore solution leads to small structural changes in existing buildings,
involves not only scientists but also engineers and architects in the and does not therefore have a remarkable architectural and
development of technical solutions that are able to overcome aesthetical impact on the environment. If possible, the device is
these architectural barriers. Depending on the type, it is usually usually installed next to or by using pre-existing structures or
possible to identify a solution (or a set of solutions) which are able buildings. Moreover, since it has a close interaction with people,
the system must be easy‐to‐use, any complexity must be simpli-
fied, and it must have very acceptable controls and operational
n
Corresponding author. modes. These characteristics are generally correlated and in some
E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Ottaviano). respects constrained by the cost.

0736-5845/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2013.11.001
336 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343

Robotic systems are currently used to a great extent not only in Cable manipulators are generally classified into two main
industrial environments, but also for non conventional applica- types: the fully-constrained (and over-constrained) type and the
tions, such as helping people in their daily activities. See for under-constrained type, based on the extent to which the end-
example systems for aiding mobility [1–3], for limb rehabilitation effector is constrained by cables only or they rely on gravity. The
[4] and cable-based manipulators used for the treatment of necessary but not sufficient condition for a mobile platform with n
patients in upper and lower limb rehabilitation [5,6], and for degrees-of-freedom to have a fully-controlled motion is that of
search and rescue operations [7] after disasters. In particular, considering at least m ¼n þ1 cables, [10]. Main issue for their use
industrial robots have rigid structures, perform fast movements, is therefore the evaluation of the cable force distribution [10].
and are usually designed to perform tasks without direct interac- Workspace analysis of fully-constrained cable robots is reported in
tion with humans. The principal characteristic of a device for [11,12].
medical application is its interaction with humans, signifying that Under-constrained and cable-suspended robots rely on the
it should be safe, reliable and easy-in-use [8,9]. Cable-based force of gravity. On a cable suspended robot, the moving platform
systems, thanks to their favorable characteristics, are well suited is suspended and operated by the attached cables which are
to direct interaction with end-users. connected to the base. Interesting design solutions for cable-
In this paper a cable-based robotic system denominated as suspended robots are: the 3D cable suspended robot ROBOCRANE
Cable System for Improving Mobility (CaSIMo) is proposed to [13], which was developed by the National Institute of Standard
improve the mobility of end-users in a safe and easy manner. In Technology (NIST); the SkyCam [14], and a Cargo Transfer System
this new scenario, people with disabilities will have more chance [15]. Other aspects of the design and control of under-constrained
of attaining enhanced independence and comfort in an urban cable-driven robots can be found in [16]. Applications for cable
environment. It should be possible to achieve this without having suspended robots were proposed in [17] for rescue operations, and
to install bulky auxiliary devices that are specifically directed [18] for industrial applications. They show good characteristics
towards or adapted to disabled people, but rather by designing that can be used in a large number of applications, but there are
solutions that intrinsically possess favorable characteristics. This still several critical issues as regards the design and control of this
signifies that these assisting systems and devices are embedded in class of cable robots to be considered for their practical imple-
buildings without being hidden, whilst being properly merged mentation [19].
with the urban environment. In this paper a cable-based robotic system denominated as
Cable-based manipulators are parallel robots in which a fixed Cable System for Improving Mobility (CaSIMo) is proposed to
frame and a moving platform are connected by several cables, improve the mobility of end-users in an urban environment.
which can be exerted or retracted by an actuation system [10]. In this context we have therefore considered one of main issues
They may have better characteristics than classical parallel robots, to be the development of technical solutions that are able to
and in fact by considering cables rather than rigid links and traverse such architectural barriers. The suspended manipulator
placing the actuation on the base, inertia of the moving parts can provide translational motion [20,21], and it is thus proposed
can be greatly reduced. Moreover, cable robots have few moving for a number of applications such as industrial pick-and-place
parts, which provide good inertial properties, high payload-weight operations. However, if large-scale application is required, a
ratio, transportability, and economical construction. These are correct modeling of the system is required to obtain the accurate
important features for applications that require a manipulator to positioning of the end-effector, as shown in [22,23]. The cables'
be brought to work on site. The drawbacks of cable-based robots characteristics should also be taken into account since the robot
are related to the nature of cables, which can only pull but do not has to lift and transport people in a safe and robust manner. The
push the end-effector. For any configuration of cables, the statics models and simulations developed take into consideration issues
or dynamics must be therefore considered in order to verify that such as cable mass, elasticity and the effect of uncertainties in
the pose is feasible. Cable driven robots have principally been cable connections, in accordance with [22,23].
developed and used in prototypal form for several years, but their
practical implementation in areas such as an industrial environ-
ment, civil work sites, and a naval environment is still an open 2. A Cartesian cable suspended robot (CCSR)
issue. The most interesting solution for the above-mentioned
applications concerns cable-suspended robots, i.e., in a crane-like CaSIMo belongs to Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robot (CCSR)
configuration. class in which cable lengths are related by suitable functions in

Fig. 1. Schemes for the kinetostatic analysis for the CCSR [20]: (a) planar case and (b) spatial case.
 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343 337

order to achieve specific kinematic characteristics [20]. Thus, from the reference fixed frame to the frame attached to the mobile
if cables are arranged in-parallel by pairs, for each i-th and j-th platform (in our case this is the Identity matrix), bij is the position
cable the following relation holds: lj(t)¼f(li(t)). Function f is vector of the Bij point attached to the moving platform expressed
strongly related to a proper choice of the attachment points on in the moving reference frame, and aij is the position of the exit
the frame and end-effector, also called the configuration of the point of each cable on the fixed frame. For the Static equilibrium it
robot. Cable robots that can be grouped under this CCSR type are holds that
the C4 [24], the crane in [25] DeltaBot in [26], and the CaSIMo 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4
manipulator [21]. ∑ ∑ Fij ¼  ∑ ∑ F ij ^lij ¼ P; ∑ ∑ tk ¼ ∑ ∑ F ij ^lij  Rbij ¼ M
In particular, the proposed Cartesian Cable Suspended Robot i¼1j¼1 i¼1j¼1 i¼1j¼1 i¼1j¼1

has 2n cables arranged in-parallel by pairs, each of which share the ð2Þ
same length. Indeed, each pair of cables, together with frame and
in which Fij is the cable tension applied cable length unit direction;
end-effector, constitute a parallelogram. This design solution
P and M are the resultant force and torque (giving a wrench W)
constrains the end-effector in order to maintain it constantly
which are exerted on or by the environment.
orientated with regards to the fixed frame, as obtained in [20].
Rearranging (2) in matrix form yields
Unlike the cable-driven crane presented in [25] and DeltaBot [26],
this robot has no passive cables (or links) to constrain the end- AT F ¼ W ð3Þ
effector [27]. The CCSR proposed in this paper has 2 translational
The feasible force distribution for cable robots is a major challenge
DOFs for the planar version in Fig. 1(a), and the spatial case in
as regards design and control issues. The basic problem is to find
Fig. 1(b) has 3 translational DOFs by maintaining a constant
positive solutions for (3), which can be summarized as
orientation. The position workspace will be therefore considered
here, which is defined as the set of all possible locations that can AT F  W ¼ 0 with 0 r f min of r r f max ð4Þ
be reached by the end-effector reference point with a fixed
orientation [10]. where fmin denotes the minimum force in the cables e.g. to tense it;
and the maximal load fmax is owing to limitations in the actuator or
2.1. Kinetostatics the breaking load of the cable. It is possible to determine the least-
square solution F of (4) by means of the inverse of Moore–Penrose
Let us consider the spatial case for the design of the CaSIMo matrix which is defined for matrices with more columns than
robot. It is worth noting that the following considerations hold for rows as
the planar case (thus j¼1,2). A fixed reference system OXYZ is A þ T ¼ AðAT AÞ  1 ð5Þ
attached to the frame, as shown in Fig. 1(b), and a moving frame is
placed at point O'. Points Aij, (for i¼1, 2; j¼1…4) are the Moreover, the inverse Moore–Penrose matrix provides the solu-
attachments on the fixed frame whose dimension is given by Lx, tion to Eq.(4) which is the minimum Euclidean norm, which is the
Ly and Lz, as shown in Fig. 1(b). set of scalar 2n cable forces (vector F) that corresponds to the
According to the proposed scheme, the 2n cable lengths have lowest energetic value for the set. This procedure is well suited to
been nominated as lij (i¼1, 2, i,j¼1,…,4) with l1j ¼ l2j. According to under-constrained cable-based robots [11].
the scheme in Fig. 1(a) and (b), for each pair of cables, a close- Upon multiplying A þ T from the left hand side of (4) it is
chain can be identified by, i.e., A12A22B22B12. Since segments necessary to verifying that the solution is compliant with the
A12A22 ¼ B12B22 ¼h, and cables l12 ¼l22, each pair of segments in force limits. It is worth noting that if AT and W are continuous
the close-chain will also be parallel, if the cables are all in tension. along a trajectory, then F is also continuous [9].
If this is true for the two pairs of cables, then any rotation about Eqs. (1)–(5) can be used to determine the position workspace
any axis is not therefore allowed [27]. for which all four cables are in tension, which has been referred to
The cables' lengths can be computed as, for i¼ 1,2, i,j ¼1,…,4 as α workspace, [20]. The robot geometry and positive tension in
all cables therefore allow the end-effector to maintain a fixed
lij ¼ ‖X þ Rbij  aij ‖ ð1Þ
orientation. It is worth noting that the outer region can be further
in which lij is the length of each cable, X is the position vector of classified by maintaining the same orientation. Proof of the
the reference point O' on the end-effector, R is the rotation matrix translation motion is given in [20].

Fig. 2. Workspace analysis of the planar CCSR robot: (a) α workspace [19] and (b) parametric study.
338 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343

A numerical example is reported here for a planar case by The motors' pulleys have a diameter of 30 mm, and the end-
considering a robot having LX ¼LZ ¼1000; b¼100; h¼ 300, with all effector mass is equal to 1 kg. It is worth noting that during the
dimensions expressed in mm, and the end-effector mass being set experimental test the tri-axial accelerometer has been installed
as equal to 1 kg. It has been assumed that P ¼[0,–9.81]T N and behind the end-effector in order to monitor the Center of Mass
M ¼0 Nm. Tension limits have not been considered in this numer- (CM) trajectory and evaluate the end-effector orientation. In
ical example since these values are strongly related to the cable particular, measurements of the manipulator's CM configurations
chosen (dimension, material). Moreover, cable mass and elasticity were performed by using an algorithm implemented in a MATLAB
have been ignored. environment, as described in [29].
Fig. 2(a) shows the position workspace regions of the planar Fig. 4 shows the experimental results for the acceleration of the
Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robot in Fig. 1(a), according to the CM. It is worth noting that the first experimental results were
geometrical constraint and Kinetostatics given in (1)–(5). In carried out by operating the system according to the scheme
particular, three regions of the workspace have been identified shown in Fig. 3, and sudden changes in the direction of motion
according to how many cables are in tension, as reported in [20]. In therefore lead to animpulsive value of the measured acceleration
particular, Fig. 2a) shows the α workspace, for which all four cables components x and z. The linear acceleration along the Y-axis
have positive tension (fij 4 0). (orthogonal to the plane of motion) has not been reported since
According to this case of study the α workspace is 0.503 m2, it is almost zero, as expected. The maximum acceleration experi-
which represents 79.8% of the reachable region within the frame. enced along the X-axis has been measured as 0.20 m/s2. The
It is worth noting that the cable tension at the top of the trajectory consists of movements in the plane of motion (vertical,
workspace tends toward infinity since no tension limitation is horizontal and diagonal linear motions). It has been experimen-
given for this numerical example. A suitable discretization of the tally verified that the end-effector has translational motion only, as
workspace analysis (Δx¼ Δz¼1 mm) produces a maximum attain- is evidenced by the experimental results shown in Fig. 5 in which
able value, which is related to the discrete nature of the scanning the CM trajectory is shown together with the end-effector orienta-
process. An algorithm for the kinematic analysis of mechanisms is tion expressed in degree.
reported in [28]. The formulation in (1)–(5) leads to a parametric In particular, with regard to the labels in Fig. 5, trajectory AB
study with which to explore the workspace area variation as a starts at 0 s and ends at 4 s; BC goes from 4 s to 14 s; CD starts at
function of the design parameters of the manipulator. Fig. 2 16 s and ends to 18 s and DE ends at 25 s. It is worth noting that
(b) shows the workspace area variation as a function of b and h this result is obtained in the open loop control of the actuators.
parameters, which are dimensions of the end-effector. It is worth
noting that a very large workspace can be obtained for small
values of b and values of h within the range of 150–250 mm. 3. Cable system for improving mobility (CaSIMo)

CaSIMo is a robotic system that can be used to improve end-

2.2. Experimental tests users' mobility in an urban environment. Its characteristics allow a
person in a wheelchair (and eventually companions) to traverse
A prototype of the planar version of the CCSR has been built for rivers, roads and any other type of large physical obstacles in cities.
laboratory experimental tests, as shown in Fig. 3. The prototype is Fig. 6 shows an example of the CaSIMo in an urban installation to
actuated by two DC motors to have 2-DOF planar motion. The cross a canal. The proposed system is based on an innovative
system has been equipped with a tri-axial accelerometer for design of the CCSR manipulator described in the previous section.
experimental tests, which has been installed at the center of mass It is composed of a cage to accommodate passengers, an actuation
(CM) of the CCSR end-effector, as shown in Fig. 3. system supported by transmission and control that permits the
Experimental tests have been carried out both to verify the handling of eight winches on which suitable steel cables are
system operation and to evaluate the CM position and accelera- wound. A rotation of the motors make it possible to define and
tion, which have been monitored by and stored in a PC. For control the cables' lengths and consequently the cage movement.
the prototype in Fig. 3, LX ¼800 mm, h ¼215 mm and b¼130 mm. The cage is equipped with a pushbutton panel like that in lifts in

Tri-axial
accelerometer

24V 24V
L motor R motor
0V 0V

PC

Fig. 3. Experimental set-up for laboratory tests on a planar CCSR prototype.

 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343 339

Fig. 4. Experimental results on the CM acceleration: (a) x-component and (b) z-component.

end-effector orientation [deg]

0.5

C
0
B D E

-0.5
A

-1
0 10 20 30 40
Time [s]
Fig. 5. Experimental results for the planar case prototype: (a) CM trajectory and (b) CM orientation.

Actuation
Cables systems

Supporting
structures Cage Supporting
structures

Fig. 6. A scheme of the CaSIMo in an urban installation to overpass a canal.

order to send the operative commands. The designed structure increase the mobility of any end-user while preserving the
and the cables' connection arrangements provide the CaSIMo architectural value.
system with two important characteristics: (1) safety: if a cable Fig. 6 also shows design specifications for the system: dimen-
breaks the redundant number of cables prevents the cage from sion of the canal to cross 12.5 m; cage dimension
accidentally falling; and (2) stability: the arrangement of the 2.8 m  1.5 m  1.5 m, and it can hold 3 or 4 people with a total
cables' connections prevents oscillations in the direction of move- mass of 1000 kg. Steel cables have been chosen with a diameter of
ment. These aspects will be discussed by describing illustrative 10 mm, breaking load of 83 kN and linear density of 0.49 kg/m.
examples for the case of study. Pulleys with a diameter of 500 mm have been selected in accor-
The CaSIMo can be built by using commercial type components dance with the cables chosen. The pulleys' centers of rotations
and the total cost of the device is therefore similar to or less than are shown in Table 1. We have developed a model for the cable
that of other analogous systems. Furthermore, thanks to the release point (referred to as the anchor position or anchor point
absence of an evident large supporting structure, the environ- [22,23]) which varies as the pose of the mobile platform changes.
mental and architectural impacts are greatly reduced, as is shown For the simulations developed, the anchor positions have therefore
in the example in Fig. 6. This system can be thus installed in cities been calculated for each pose of the cage according to pulleys'
with a significant presence of historical buildings in order to diameter.
340 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343

A workspace analysis has been performed in accordance with and required power, velocity and acceleration of the Center of
the design data. Fig. 7 shows cable tension distribution for cables Mass (CM) for the cage are shown for the model in Fig. 6. It is
11 and 12, respectively, (see the scheme in Fig. 1a) in a cross- worth noting that, despite the suspended nature of the cable
section area. In particular, the plane of motion of the Center of system, the simulation shows negligible rotations of the cage (the
Mass (CM) of the cage is considered for the numerical results 3rd angle only has a maximum rotation of 21). Since the system
shown in Fig. 7. The total working area is 9 m  26.1 m ¼230 m2, has to transport people, the acceleration effects of the cage can be
and the workspace of the CaSIMo cable system that we can obtain virtually ignored, although the simulation time can be considered
when maintaining a constant orientation of the cage is 195 m2, as being short as regards to the task of transferring people.
which represents 84% of the working area. One important issue when modeling a system dealing with close
A dynamic simulation of the cage transfer is reported in the interaction with people is that of studying the dynamics of the
sequence shown in Fig. 8. The proposed simulation takes 40 s: 5 s are system in “critical” situations, such as the cable releasing or breaking,
used at the beginning and the end to used to reach the static or external disturbances. Indeed, a proper modeling of the system is
equilibrium of the system. After, during the 1st phase, the cage is essential for the initial stage of the mechanical design, during which
lifted up by 3 m. During the 2nd phase the cage is moved 15 m in the these situations are also taken into consideration. In particular, Fig. 10
X direction. Finally, during the 3rd phase, the cage is lifted down. For shows the results of a dynamic simulation dealing with the same
simulation purposes, people are not displayed during the simulation, movement of the cage shown in the sequence in Fig. 8, but in the
but their effect is considered as an additional mass in the cage. case of external disturbances such as wind in the direction orthogo-
The results for the dynamic simulation run in an ADAMS nal to the plane of motion and the movement of people in the cage.
environment are shown in Fig. 9. In particular, the cable's tension The outcome of the simulation shows a good behavior of the systems
in terms of both the cables' tension and the velocity and acceleration
of the cage. The system is therefore stable in the case of this kind of
external disturbance and can accomplish its task.
Table 1
Fig. 11 shows the results of a dynamic simulation in which one
Centers' of rotation position for pulleys in the model shown in Fig. 6.
cable breaks during the same movement of the cage as displayed in
A11 A21 A12 A22 A13 A23 A14 A24 Fig. 8. In particular, the outcome of the computation shows a good
behavior of the system, which is capable of completing the task
X (m) 0 0 32 32 32 32 0 0 without external assistance, thus preventing the cage from falling. In
Y (m) 0 0 0 0 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
Z (m) 8 7.2 8 7.2 8 7.2 8 7.2
particular, the cables' tensions are verified along with the trajectory,
and their values are much lower than the given breaking load.

Fig. 7. Cable tension distribution in a workspace cross-section: (a) F11 and (b) F12.

Fig. 8. A sequence of cage transfer phases with CaSIMo.

 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343 341

Fig. 9. Simulation numerical results: (a) cables' tensions; (b) required power; (c) cage CM position; (d) cage angular orientation; (e) cage velocity; and (f) cage acceleration.

Fig. 10. Simulation numerical results for external disturbances: (a) external disturbance; (b) cables' tensions; (c) cage CM position; (d) cage angular orientation; (e) cage
velocity; and (f) cage acceleration.

A suitable model of the proposed system is therefore very stability. Since the cable‐based manipulator has to be used to
useful for dynamic simulations in several scenarios. Indeed, the transfer people in the proposed application, the principal issue in
proposed results can be used both for design purposes and in the this research activity concerned the development and implemen-
development of control strategies, such as those described in tation of a suitable model, taking into account several physical
[30,31] consisting of new design strategies dealing with systems aspects that require attention, such as the cables' mass and
with large payload variations, such as those in the case under elasticity, and the inertia of transmission system. The most
study. significant of the authors' previous results have been considered
in the proposed model, such as cable mass and elasticity and
pulleys. The CaSIMo belongs to the class of Cartesian Cable
4. Conclusion and future work Suspended Robots, and its particular design allows translational
motion only and it is therefore well suited to the proposed
The CaSIMo is a large‐dimension system that can be used for application. Nevertheless, the proposed models, also based on
mobility and handling applications with a high level of safety and previous experiences that the authors have developed in this area,
342 G. Castelli et al. / Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 30 (2014) 335–343

Fig. 11. Simulation numerical results in the case of a cable breaking during the cage transfer: (a) cables' tensions; (b) required power; (c) cage CM position; (d) cage angular
orientation; (e) cage velocity; and (f) cage acceleration.

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