A new approach for the geometrical calibration of parallel kinematics machines tools based on the machining of a dedicated part

A main limitation of parallel kinematics machine tools (PKM) in high-speed machining tasks is their low level of accuracy compared with serial kinematics machine tools, which is largely due to geometrical transformation errors. These errors can be reduced by identifying the geometrical parameters of the inverse kinematics model integrated in the controller by exteroceptive calibration. The aim of this paper is to propose a new external measurement method in order to perform the geometrical calibration of PKM, taking into account machining requirements. This method is implemented in three steps: machining of a dedicated part, measurement, and identification of the geometrical parameter values. In this paper, the method is described with a particular emphasis on the machined surface profiles of the dedicated part and on the numerical calibration approach. Measurement errors on the machined surface enable the identification of the PKM geometrical parameters. Thus, calibration is performed with respect to machined surface defects without taking into account the entire tool pose defect, as is the case in usual calibration methods. The study is illustrated using the Verne PKM, which is located at IRCCyN (Nantes, France). (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.