A Levitating Parallel Robot

Magnetic levitation may offer an alternative to traditional actuation in robotics, particularly for applications requiring minimal mechanical contact, reduced friction, and operation in sterile or sensitive environments. This paper presents a novel parallel Delta robot enhanced by magnetic levitation technology, utilizing “polarity-free magnetic repulsion” (PFR) method. Unlike conventional Delta robots that rely on mechanical joints and motors, our design integrates magnetic levitation to reduce the robot’s weight and mechanical wear. Levitation is controlled by manipulating the rotation speed of the base magnetic field, which adjusts the height of the robot’s legs using force-based dynamics rather than traditional kinematics. A mechanical low-pass-filter is used to stabilize the system. An extensive set of experiments demonstrates the feasibility of this technology in achieving high precision and stability in operations.