Workspace Analysis of New Type Parallel Mechanism with Serial Input

Abstract

A new 4 DOF parallel mechanism with serial input limb is presented ——2UPS-RPU parallel mechanism, the limb with serial input is a less contrained active branched-chain,the number of its DOF is less than six,that is to say,the limbs not only transmitting driving force but also constraint force at the same time.Compared with traditional parallel mechanisms,the mechanism with serial input has greater number of DOF than the number of limbs and don’t lose the property of parallel mechanism. The inverse solutions to positions of the mechanism are modeled by inverse kinematic analysis in this paper, then the constraint conditions are established according to factors influencing the workspace of parallel mechanism,such as the limits of the hinge angle and the parallel link length.The workspace of 2UPS-RPU parallel mechanism can be obtained by using exetreme-boundary numerical algorithm in Matlab,the volume of workspace can be quantified by means of computation,and analyzing the impact of rod length ,circumradius of moving and fixed platform and motion pair rotation angle on the workspace.