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Actuators
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Cable-Driven Parallel Robot Actuators: State-of-the-Art and New Developments
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Cable-Driven Parallel Robot Actuators: State-of-the-Art and New Developments

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Actuators for Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 753

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Juan Fang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
rehaLab—The Laboratory for Rehabilitation Engineering, HuCE—Institute for Human Centred Engineering, Department of Mechatronics and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, Bern University of Applied Sciences, CH-2501 Biel, Switzerland
Interests: robotic control; whole-body rehabilitation; tendon-based robotic systems; computer vision
Prof. Dr. Le Xie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: surgical robots; rehabilitation robots; virtual surgery; virtual reality/augmented reality; digital medicine; digital manufacturing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, cable-driven parallel robots (CDPRs) have emerged as a fascinating research topic in both theoretical design and practical applications, particularly in the field of medical and sport technology. CDPRs integrate the advantages of parallel manipulators and cable-driven actuators. Parallel manipulators, characterised by their stationary drives and dynamic axes, offer benefits such as low moment of inertia, rapid response speed, high load capacity, and precise movement control. Moreover, CDPRs employ cable-driven actuators, which provide flexibility, reconfigurability, and a user-friendly interface. CDPRs show great promise in many fields such as robotic-assisted diagnosis, surgery, rehabilitation, and sport training. However, successful implementation of CDPRs requires a compact mechanical design, sophisticated sensor/actuator technology, and optimal control strategies. Various methods have been proposed and explored, leading to notable progress. For this Special Issue, we encourage researchers to submit original research papers and review articles that investigate new advancements in the development and application of CDPRs. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Mechanical structure optimisation;
  • System modelling;
  • Kinematic and kinetic analysis;
  • Stiffness and vibration analysis;
  • Force and position control strategies;
  • Innovative applications.

Prof. Dr. Juan Fang
Prof. Dr. Le Xie
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cable-driven actuators
  • tendon-based robotic systems
  • dynamic modelling
  • force control
  • rehabilitation technology
  • robotic surgery
  • sport training
  • human–machine interface

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 5242 KiB  
Article
Development of a Force Feedback Controller with a Speed Feedforward Compensator for a Cable-Driven Actuator
by Juan Fang, Michael Haldimann, Bardia Amiryavari and Robert Riener
Actuators 2025, 14(5), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/act14050214 - 25 Apr 2025
Viewed by 143
Abstract
Cable-driven actuators (CDAs) are extensively used in the rehabilitation field because of advantages such as low moment of inertia, fast movement response, and intrinsic flexibility. Accurate control of cable force is essential for achieving precise movement control, especially when the movement is generated [...] Read more.
Cable-driven actuators (CDAs) are extensively used in the rehabilitation field because of advantages such as low moment of inertia, fast movement response, and intrinsic flexibility. Accurate control of cable force is essential for achieving precise movement control, especially when the movement is generated by multiple CDAs. However, velocity-induced disturbances pose challenges to accurate force control during dynamic movements. Several strategies for direct force control have been investigated in the literature, but time-consuming tests are often required. The aim of this study was to develop a force feedback controller and a speed feedforward compensator for a CDA with a convenient experiment-based approach. The CDA consisted of a motor with a gearbox, a cable drum, and a force sensor. The transfer function between motor torque and cable force was estimated through an open-loop test. A PI force feedback controller was developed and evaluated in a static test. Subsequently, a dynamic test with a reference force of 100 N was conducted, during which the cable was pulled to move at different speeds. The relationship between the motor speed and the cable force was determined, which facilitated further development of a speed feedforward compensator. The controller and compensator were evaluated in dynamic tests at various speeds. Additionally, the system dynamics were simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. The static test showed that the PI force controller produced a mean force control error of 4.7 N, which was deemed very good force-tracking accuracy. The simulated force output was very similar to the experiment (RMSE error of 4.0 N). During the dynamic test, the PI force controller alone produced a force control error of 9.0 N. Inclusion of the speed feedforward compensator improved the force control accuracy, resulting in a mean error at various speeds of 5.6 N. The combined force feedback controller and speed feedforward compensator produced a satisfactory degree of accuracy in force control during dynamic tests of the CDA across varying speeds. Additionally, the accuracy level was comparable to that reported in the literature. The convenient experiment-based design of the force control strategy exhibits potential as a general control approach for CDAs, laying the solid foundation for precise movement control. Future work will include the integration of the speed compensator into better feedback algorithms for more accurate force control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cable-Driven Parallel Robot Actuators: State-of-the-Art and New Developments)
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