Kinematics of a Schönflies-Motion Generator Parallel Manipulator with Moving Configurable Platform

Abstract

In this work, a parallel manipulator equipped with a moving configurable platform able to perform the Schönflies motion is introduced. The versatility of the robot is such that it is possible to attach to the configurable platform one end-effector endowed with a redundant decoupled rotation or two end-effectors in two opposite corners of the moving configurable platform. The mobility of the robot is explained by means of the theory of screws while the displacement analysis is approached by means of conventional vectorial algebra. In that concern, the forward position analysis leads to five quadratic equations which are solved by applying the homotopy continuation method. Afterwards, the velocity and acceleration analyses of the robot are approached by resorting to the theory of screws. Numerical examples are included with the purpose of validate the reliability of the method of kinematic analysis employed in the contribution.