A computer aided configurator for parallel kinematics machines

Within the European project Robotool, a Computer Aided Configurator (CAC) has been developed; the CAC is a software tool useful in the design and performance analysis of Parallel Kinematic Machine (PKM). The Configurator allows to design and to configure a PKM following a guided procedure; the application controls the correctness and the coherence of the model during the whole building phase. Supplied with a graphical interface and with a set of calculation functions that determine the fundamental behaviour/performance features of the machines, the CAC concurs to manage a database where the information relative to each machine can be handled and stored. The system includes also a set of tools for a 3D graphical representation of the performance data (RGV, Robotool Graphics Viewer) and the physical aspect of the designed machine (3D Visualisation Environment).