Passive Gravity Compensation Mechanisms: Technologies and Applications

Though passive gravity-force compensation or weight balancing technology has existed for centuries, novel system designs and new applications have been emerging in the past two decades. This survey paper reviews the recent patents and technical publications related to these new developments and applications. The paper first gives an overview of widely used passive gravity-force compensation techniques. It then presents the applications of these techniques in different areas with focus on the recent patents and publications. Finally, the likely trends of future development in this particular area are discussed.