Investigating the Effect of Cable Force

on Winch Winding Accuracy

for Cable-Driven Parallel Robots

Valentin Schmidt, Alexander Mall and Andreas Pott

Abstract This paper focuses on the winch winding properties of typical driving
mechanisms of cable-driven parallel robots. While cable properties have already been
studied, the accuracy of winding mechanisms to control cable robots and the inter-
action with cable properties has yet to be investigated. To initiate this, some properties
believed to affect the winding accuracy are outlined. It was found that cable force can
have a significant effect not only because of finite stiffness, but due to ovalisation and
elongation effects of the rope. An experimental test on ovalisation showed significant
deviations from a standard approximation to evaluate transmission accuracy. This
effect can change the accuracy of winding mechanisms by 0.3–1.2 %. Thus when
investigating cable-robot accuracy the winch winding properties cannot be ignored.

Keywords Cable-driven parallel robots
Winch
Winding properties

Ovalisation

1 Introduction

Cable-driven parallel robots are a subclass of robots where a platform is positioned

through the active control of cable lengths. These robots were introduced around
30 years ago [1], and have been subject to research throughout these years. Several
prototypes have been developed [7, 8] mainly for research use.
One critical aspect for this type of robot is the accuracy of such a system. Many
factors have been already investigated, from the geometrical influence of pulley

V. Schmidt (&)
A. Mall
A. Pott

Fraunhofer IPA, Stuttgart, Germany
e-mail: valentin.schmidt@ipa.Fraunhofer.de
A. Mall
e-mail: alexander.mall@ipa.Fraunhofer.de
A. Pott
e-mail: andreas.pott@ipa.Fraunhofer.de

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 315

P. Flores and F. Viadero (eds.), New Trends in Mechanism and Machine Science,
Mechanisms and Machine Science 24, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-09411-3_34
316 V. Schmidt et al.

systems [10] to cable mass and elongation [9]. It was observed that many of the
factors affecting the accuracy are actually within equal orders of magnitude, thus
making the isolation and elimination of inaccuracies challenging. In this paper we
will discuss a further impact on the accuracy of the robot which is the accuracy of
the drive system itself.
Understanding the winch winding accuracy is important as this gives us the rela-
tionship between the drum angle and the cable length. In many cases cable robots
operate without any additional sensor to estimate the pose. This pose is simply cal-
culated from the cable lengths, which in turn are estimated through the drive train.
Since many motors already include very accurate position monitoring this is a sensible
choice. However, it is crucial to know the transmission behavior of the winch as the
cable length (and therefore position) is measured indirectly in the motor encoder.
The winch winding mechanism was already investigated by Merlet [5], who
found that linear actuators (effectively an active block and tackle) had good
accuracy results, especially over the traditional multi-winding winch. In this paper
the focus is on a single-winding winch which also has high accuracy due to precise
control over the cable placement on the drum.
The mechanism to achieve single-winding under scrutiny for this analysis is the
winch concept shown in Fig. 1. This concept was produced into a series of winches
for cable robot applications at the Fraunhofer IPA which will be referred to as the
IPAnema winch [8]. Here a spoolguide ensures that the cable is precisely placed in
a helical groove on the drum. This leads to a more complicated winch design, but
aids in reducing the cable-wear and increases the accuracy of winding.

2 Properties Affecting Winding Accuracy

The factors which affect the winding accuracy are not limited to this type of winch.
In fact even linearly actuated winches are affected by all of these characteristics
despite having a radically different design. Unfortunately some of these factors will
have interdependencies which go beyond the scope of this paper.

Fig. 1 Single winding winch

concept: 1 spoolguide
transmission, 2 final pulley,
3 drum, 4 spoolguide,
5 spindle, 6 servo motor
Investigating the Effect of Cable Force… 317

While all of these physical phenomena are relevant only an estimate can be made
on their final impact on winding accuracy when winding under different cable
tension forces.

2.1 Physical Winch Properties

Manufacturing accuracy is an evident factor affecting the positioning accuracy of

the cable winch as a whole. These can take very many forms. For the example
winch with single winding, this would be the helix formed by the groove in the
drum, the positioning of the pulleys in the spoolguide and the final pulley, poor
transmission ratios for the spoolguide and many more. Due to modern manufac-
turing techniques these are regarded as having very little impact. For example using
simple geometry we can discern that a positioning inaccuracy of the spoolguide
pulley of 0.1 mm has very little effect <0.1 mm on the absolute length, as the cable
spans a much longer distance (even internally in the winch) than any mechanical
error we can expect. This is relevant for any finite stiffness in the winch system,
which will then be affected by the change in cable tensions. The cable force causes
resultant forces as depicted in the schematic diagram of Fig. 2 as Fr on the pulleys
and also on the drum and peripheral winch components. However these inaccu-
racies are in the same order of magnitude as manufacturing inaccuracies. In the case
of the IPAnema winch these can be neglected.

2.2 Drive Train Accuracy

Motor accuracy can have a significant impact. In this case there is a finite accuracy
on the rotation angle of the motor. Clearly this also exists for linear motors.
Depending on the type of motor this accuracy can be chosen very deliberately. In

Fig. 2 Shematic diagram of

IPAnema winch cable leading
318 V. Schmidt et al.

the case of the IPAnema winch the motor accuracy is extremely high due to the use
of servomotors. The system accuracy of these as stated by the manufacturer is ±20
angular seconds1 [2] which is equivalent to 97:0  106 radians. Positional
accuracy is further increased through a gear ratio of i = 12. Thus for the experi-
mental setup this factor will be ignored as these are in a similar order of magnitude
as the manufacturing inaccuracies.
It can be seen on Fig. 2 that the length change of the spoolguide dp2p will cause
an additional linear length change as it ensures straight unwinding moving with the
lead rise of the helix on the drum llead . This is distance is adjusted by transmission
ratio Tspl whose sign depends on whether the final pulley in Fig. 2 is positioned on
the top or bottom. Thus we can approximate relationship of motor angle Dh in
radians to cable length change Dl from
0sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
 2  2
d llead
Dl ¼ @ rdrum þ þ þ Tspl ATM Dh ð1Þ
2 2p

to the linear function

 
d
Dl ¼ rdrum þ þ Tspl TM Dh ð2Þ
2

where d is the cable diameter and TM is the transmission ratio from motor to drum.
Using a quick estimate for the IPAnema winch the motor accuracy causes an
uncertainty in the final cable length of 4  104 mm:

2.3 Rope Ovalisation

One phenomena which is characteristic of plastic fibre ropes is ovalisation.

Ovalisation is essentially a yielding of the cable shape under increasing tensions
resulting in a closer fit of the cable against the drum/pulley surface as depicted in
Fig. 3. Feyrer [3] discusses this in detail for wire ropes, but it is more pronounced in
plastic fibre ropes. An investigation by Michael and Vogel [6] into the ovalisation
of plastic fibre ropes, where the ovalisation was measured using a laser scanner
showed over 10 % decrease in diameter of the cable at cable forces of perhaps one
tenth of the breaking strength. Results show a mostly linear relationship between
tension and resulting ovalisation, but this only applies for the tension range
investigated as ultimately the radius will not reduce below a minimum threshold.
Simply put the ovalisation will cause less cable to be wound on the drum than a
simple consideration of drum circumference would predict.

1
Bosch Rexroth: MSK 050B-0600-NN-M2-UG1-RNNN.
Investigating the Effect of Cable Force… 319

Fig. 3 Rope ovalisation on winch drum

Naturally there a many factors which effect this ovalisation. The shape of the
groove plays an important role, as does the type of material used. It is also closely
coupled with the natural thinning of the cable under tension, but adds an additional
effect. For the measured ovalisation in [6] ultra high density polyethylene fibres
were used, which is also the type used on the IPAnema winch. This enables a
simple prediction of lack of winding for the IPAnema winch at on tenth of the
breaking strength with the following assumptions: a drum radius rdrum of 47 mm
and a cable diameter d of 6 mm.
As we neglect mechanical errors for a motor rotation 490.1705 radian as used in
the experiments discussed in Sect. 3. The transmission ratio TM as before and a Tspl
of  2p7
. Resulting in a cable length change of 1,997.2 mm. Assuming a 10 %
change in the effective radius as measured by [6] and depicted in Fig. 3, with the
same assumptions the change is 1,985.0 mm. Constituting to a 0.6 % change.
Depending on the ratio of diameter of the cable to the radius of the drum this results
in a length difference of about 0.3–1.3 % (if we assume the recommended bending
radii for fibre ropes are maintained). This is considerable as it constitutes to several
millimeters per meter of wound rope, and with long distances the absolute error will
increase.
There is of course a limit to the ovalisation factor which can be assumed to be
asymptotic. The length can never go below an effective cable diameter of zero. For
the IPAnema winch this would constitute a length change of roughly six percent
(3/50). This is evidently not realistic, but a benchmark figure.

2.4 Rope Elongation During Winch Winding

Another effect that has been observed during the operation of the winch is that
tension niveaus by which cable was wound onto the drum will remain on the drum
until the cable is unwound again. Cable elasticity in cable robots has been analyzed
[4], but not the effect on the winch winding. This can be described through a short
thought experiment: If there was no friction between the drum, and the cable
exhibited no creep, then any force exerted on the cable should elongate the cable
along the entire drum. This does not happen, instead friction between the drum and
cable increases with the angle upon which the cable is wrapped around the drum
according to the famous capstan equation
320 V. Schmidt et al.

Fl ¼ Fh ela : ð3Þ

Here the holding force Fh required to counter a loading tension in the cable Fl is
significantly lower by friction l and the angle a. The question is when a loading
force is being used to wind up a drum, and then the cable is released of this force:
how much of the cable reverts to its unstretched state.
An experiment to test for this phenomenon would be to wind an elongated cable
under tension onto a drum and measure the resultant contraction after the cable has
been removed. If the contraction is similar to that of a free hanging cable of the
same length then all effects on cable are modeled through the capstan equation.
Elongation during winding would still have an effect on the accuracy and that
would be a gradual increase in winding space as segments of the cable which
experience less tension [due to Eq. (3)] would gradually pull back cable that has
been wound onto the drum. However, observation of the operating winches of cable
robots suggests that this is not the case.

2.5 Uneven Helix

Another effect which force can have on the an inaccuracy in the llead of Eq. (1). This
can be caused by uneven settling of the rope on the drum. In the case of the
IPAnema winch, there are grooves in order to guide the cable on the drum, but even
these will not stop minute settling of the cable to form an uneven helix. It is more
significant for cable drums without grooves which can be practical depending on
the situation. While this factor may seem only appropriate for drum based winches,
also linear winches can suffer from this effect. Here it would not be a helix, but
individual pulleys on a linear winch will not be perfectly aligned between the two
blocks creating a gradient which will result in a slightly different length error. Here
too the effect of this error is very small compared with other effects such as
ovalisation.

3 Experimental Results

In order to evaluate the ovalisation factors a small experiment was conducted. Here
the IPAnema winch was used to hoist a series of weights. These weights kept the
cable under tension by exerting a constant cable force Fc . A 6 mm diameter ultra high
density polyethylene fibre cable was used for this investigation. This has a breaking
strength of 43,000 N. The distance was measured using a laser range meter.
When conducting the experiment several precautions were taken. In order to
mitigate any lasting by factors such as creep and hysteresis effects the order of
weights was randomized. The distance traveled for each weight was recorded
Investigating the Effect of Cable Force… 321

within a constant settling time interval. In order to maintain a constant cable force,
accelerations were kept to a minimum and slow smooth motion was initiated. Since
distance traveled was measured as relative points and the cable force was kept
constant effects of elongation can be ignored.
Figure 4 shows the results of an experiment done on the ovalisation. The least
squares fit was also plotted for reference, as discussed in the Sect. 2.3 the nature of
the relationship has to be asymptotic. These results show a significant deviation
from the expected especially in the initial winding capacity even at lower cable
forces. Instead of the ≈1,990 mm as in Eqs. (1) and (2) the winch only wound cable
from 1,993–2,007 mm. One reason for this difference could be the elongated
winding which was discussed previously.
The effect of ovalisation is in the same order of magnitude, whether you use
Eq. (1) or Eq. (2). In fact the error due to ovalisation is much greater than the error
obtained by the approximation, which is also an indicator that ovalisation has more
of an effect than an uneven helix.
However, the results clearly show that there is an effect on winding capacity of a
drum affecting accuracy. Indeed the order of magnitude by which it is affected is
comparable to that of pulleys on cable robots [10], and of the cable elongation.
However, instead of the predicted 0.6 % length difference at one tenth of the
breaking strength, occurred already at somewhere close to 900 N instead, almost
one fiftieth.
Further experiments using a block and pulley system to elongate the distance
traveled by the cable gave less clear results. The tendency to wind less cable with
increasing force was still observable, but the introduction of further points of
contact on the pulleys over which the cable will also show ovalisation and increased
friction rendered the results incompatible with those gained by the simple
experiment.

Fig. 4 Experimental results on ovalisation

322 V. Schmidt et al.

4 Conclusions

An overview of different factors affecting the accuracy of the winches of cable-

driven parallel robots has been given. Next to mechanical factors of the winch
construction, ovalisation has been introduced. This phenomenon has been shown
previously, but not in the context of winding accuracy of drum driven winches.
Mechanical inaccuracies in the winch system and of the motor drive play an
insignificant role when compared to the mechanical properties of the cable and the
interaction in the winding process.
It was found that the ovalisation of the cable is a significant factor, but measured
ovalisation does explain the complete difference in wound cable lengths. This was
investigated by comparing results from ovalisation measurements to the winch
winding properties under different forces.
This very clearly also shows the difficulty achieving high accuracy with cable
robot systems. There are many factors which change the effective cable length
under different conditions. The cable itself exhibits significant deformations under
stresses of forces and temperature which are exacerbated by the winding mecha-
nism. These effects also play part in wire ropes but are perhaps more significant in
fibre ropes as here the elasticity and ovalisation are significantly higher.
It is necessary to further study the winch winding properties. The effect of
elongation has yet to be validated experimentally and analyzed numerically to give
a prediction on cable length.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the FhG Internal Programs under Grant No.
WISA 823 244.

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