Kinematic and Dynamic Analysis of Spatial Six Degree of Freedom ...

A.2 iMIDAS
iMIDAS stands for Iztech Manipulator Inverse Displacement Analysis and Simulation
Tool. It accomplishes real-time inverse displacement analysis and its 3D graphical simulation
based on formulations in chapter 4. It can also save the data for future use.
Screenshots of iMIDAS can be seen in figure A.1, A.2. The form has four main parts;
platform position, construction parameters, input parameters and the drawing area. As
explained in chapter 4, the given parameters for an inverse task are the position of the
platform or the end effector. In iMIDAS, these parameters are entered to the program via the
slider bars or the up-down buttons in ‘platform position’ part. The construction parameters of
the manipulators are entered in the respective part. User may read the necessary input values
to acquire the required position from the ‘Input Parameters’ part. Using these calculated input
and given position values, a 3D representation of the manipulator is given in the drawing part.
In this last part, the lines represent the branches and the triangle represents the platform. It is
possible to zoom in/out or rotate the image. All calculations and drawings take place as soon
as the user moves the sliders or presses the up-down buttons, or by any means changes one of
these parameters. Program works quite fast. iMIDAS is a SDI (single document interface)
style program. The programming language used is Borland Delphi 6.0. OpenGL is used for
3D graphics.
A.2.1 Overview of Program Sections
iMIDAS consists of 5 sections as:
• Platform position
• Construction parameters
• Command line
• Graphics panel
• Main menu
A.2.2 Platform Position Section
To make the analysis, one has to move the sliders, or click the up-down buttons in the
Platform Position section. The program will give the required inputs to achieve that position
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