Larochelle, Pierre; McCarthy, J Michael; Lusk, Craig P
(Ed.)
An algorithm is presented for computing the tension in an elastic cable subject to sagging under its own weight, a problem highly relevant in tethered systems such as cable-driven parallel robots. This requires solving the two coupled equations of the Irvine cable model, which give the endpoint position as a function of vertical and horizontal components of tension. Via a change of variables, we reformulate this system as a pair of uncoupled equations, which are shown to have a unique solution. We develop an efficient numerical procedure to solve one of these, after which closed-form formulas provide the solution of the second equation and ultimately the tension components.
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