Error significance analysis and compensation for HPKMs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel error‐ranking methodology and two compensation strategies for hybrid parallel kinematic machines (HPKMs). Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines an error analysis methodology developed for HPKMs and applies the technique to a typical industrial HPKM. Based on the results of this, two compensation strategies are developed and implemented, for both mass‐induced and thermal errors. Findings – The paper demonstrates and quantifies the performance improvements possible with appropriate error compensation strategies. Originality/value – The paper introduces a novel and generic methodology for error source analysis and describes two fully implemented compensation strategies which result in a significantly improved level of system performance.