Dear Subscribers,
I am sorry for the long lack of updates of the ParalleMIC web site. This
interruption was certainly not caused by a recession in the field. On the
contrary, there have been quite a few developments but it was the final work on
my dissertation that prevented me from keeping you posted. One month prior to
defending my thesis and hopefully obtaining that ultimate Ph.D. title, I finally
managed to prepare this brief newsletter.
This issue may look information-poor, but it actually announces three lengthy
comprehensive articles. The first is an Opinion Piece that I wrote at the
request of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA). RIA is the only North
American robotics trade organization and its newsletter is sent to over 10,000
subscribers around the world. After some correspondence between RIA and me,
they got quite interested in parallel robots. No wonder, since several of RIA's
members (e.g., ABB, Adept, Fanuc) are manufacturing such robots and many others
are using them. Thus, they had one of their writers investigate on the topic
and write a Feature Article. The examples provided in that article support my
Opinion Piece's statement -- parallel robots are gradually replacing serial
robots.
Finally, the most important advocate of parallel kinematic systems, the
German-based Physik Instrumente (PI), wrote an exclusive and exhaustive report
on their more-than-a-decade-long experience in the field. While known mostly by
their famous M-850 hexapod, PI offers an astonishing number of other original
products based on innovative parallel mechanisms.
All three reviews can be accessed through the front page of ParalleMIC. Enjoy!
Best regards,
Ilian Bonev
()