Type Synthesis of Three-Degree-of-Freedom Translational Compliant Parallel Mechanisms

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Yue ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Hai-Jun Su ◽  
Xianwen Kong

In this paper, we apply screw theory to type synthesis of compliant parallel mechanisms (PMs) with translational degree-of-freedom (DOF). Compliant PMs are formed by a moving platform supported by three or more limbs each of which is a serial chain of flexure joints and rigid bodies. They achieve movement through the deformation of flexure joints and have been widely used in precision machinery. As an important task in the conceptual design stage, the goal of type synthesis is to determine the chain of each limb as well as their relationship when they are assembled in parallel for a prescribed motion pattern. In our approach, we study a category of commonly used flexure primitives and flexure elements whose freedom and constraint spaces are characterized by twists and wrenches in screw theory. Following the well-studied synthesis procedure for rigid body PMs, we propose a synthesis procedure for compliant PMs via screw theory. As an example, we demonstrate the procedure for synthesizing compliant PMs with three translational DOF. Tables of limbs, types, and geometric conditions for the assemblies of these limbs are presented. The paper provides a catalog of 3DOF translational compliant PM designs. At last, we developed finite element simulation to validate one of the synthesized designs.

Author(s):  
Cong Yue ◽  
Hai-Jun Su ◽  
Xianwen Kong

In this paper, we apply screw theory to the type synthesis of compliant parallel mechanisms (PMs). Compliant PMs are formed by a moving stage supported by three or more limbs each of which is a serial chain of flexure joints and rigid bodies. They achieve movement through the deformation of flexure joints and have been widely used in precision machinery. As an important task in the conceptual design stage, the goal of type synthesis is to determine the chain of each limb as well as their relationship when they are assembled in parallel for a prescribed motion pattern. Our approach starts with a category of commonly used flexure primitives and flexure elements whose freedom and constraint spaces are characterized by twists and wrenches in screw theory. Following the well-studied synthesis procedure for rigid body PMs, we propose a synthesis procedure for compliant PMs via screw theory. This procedure consists of four basic steps: decomposition of the screw system of the constraint space, type synthesis of limbs, assembling limbs and design of flexure joints. As an example, we demonstrate the procedure for synthesizing compliant PMs for three degree-of-freedom (DOF) translational motions. Tables of limbs, types and geometric conditions for the assemblies of these limbs are presented. The paper provides a catalogue of compliant PM designs with three translational motions. At last, we provide a case study of applying finite element simulation to validate one of the synthesized designs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-J. Su ◽  
C. Yue

Abstract. In this paper, we present the type synthesis of freedom and constraint elements for design of general flexure mechanisms. As an important step in the conceptual design stage, the goal of type synthesis is to qualitatively determine the topology or connectivity of flexure elements and rigid bodies in a mechanism. The synthesis procedure presented here is based on a recently emerging screw theory based approach for flexure mechanisms. We first categorize a list of commonly used atomic flexure primitives including blades, wires, notches and bellow springs etc. We then derive their twist and wrench matrices that mathematically represent their freedom and constraint spaces. The synthesis procedure rigorously follows screw algebra. Freedom elements including R-joints and P-joints are defined as basic motion elements that allow a single rotation or a single translation. By using parallel structures of these flexure primitives, eleven designs of R-joints and eight designs of P-joints are systematically synthesized. As a duality, constraint elements including P-constraints and R-constraints remove a single translation or rotation. In contract to freedom elements, we synthesized serial chains of flexure primitives and obtained six designs of P-constraints and three designs of R-constraints. These freedom and constraint elements form a catalogue of basic building blocks for designing more complex flexure mechanisms. At last we utilize four design examples to demonstrate how to synthesize hybrid structures with serial and parallel combination of these elements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongquan Li ◽  
Yang Zhang ◽  
Lijie Zhang

Abstract The current type synthesis of the redundant actuated parallel mechanisms is adding active-actuated kinematic branches on the basis of the traditional parallel mechanisms, or using screw theory to perform multiple getting intersection and union to complete type synthesis. The number of redundant parallel mechanisms obtained by these two methods is limited. In this paper, based on Grassmann line geometry and Atlas method, a novel and effective method for type synthesis of redundant actuated parallel mechanisms (PMs) with closed-loop units is proposed. Firstly, the degree of freedom (DOF) and constraint line graph of the moving platform are determined successively, and redundant lines are added in constraint line graph to obtain the redundant constraint line graph and their equivalent line graph, and a branch constraint allocation scheme is formulated based on the allocation criteria. Secondly, a scheme is selected and redundant lines are added in the branch chains DOF graph to construct the redundant actuated branch chains with closed-loop units. Finally, the branch chains that meet the requirements of branch chains configuration criteria and F&C (degree of freedom & constraint) line graph are assembled. In this paper, two types of 2 rotational and 1 translational (2R1T) redundant actuated parallel mechanisms and one type of 2 translational and 1 rotational (2T1R) redundant actuated parallel mechanisms with few branches and closed-loop units were taken as examples, and 238, 92 and 15 new configurations were synthesized. All the mechanisms contain closed-loop units, and the mechanisms and the actuators both have good symmetry. Therefore, all the mechanisms have excellent comprehensive performance, in which the two rotational DOFs of the moving platform of 2R1T redundant actuated parallel mechanism can be independently controlled. The instantaneous analysis shows that all mechanisms are not instantaneous, which proves the feasibility and practicability of the method.


2011 ◽  
Vol 308-310 ◽  
pp. 2025-2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Juan Lu ◽  
Li Jie Zhang ◽  
Da Xing Zeng ◽  
Ruo Song Wang

For the general parallel mechanisms(PMS), since the coupling between kinematic chains, the nonlinear relation between the input and output is presented, which have led to difficulty in the trajectory planning and precision control. Design of motion decoupled parallel mechanisms(DPMS) has become a good new topic in this area and has captured researcher's attention. In this work, the approach to a synthesis of three degree-of-freedom(3-DOF) DPMS is considered based on screw theory and motion synthesis ideas. Criterions for type synthesis of the branches for DPMS is established according to the twist screw system of the limbs, which assures the decoupling in each limb. Then a six-step procedure is presented for the type synthesis of 2T1R decoupled mechanisms.


Author(s):  
Ziming Chen ◽  
Wen-ao Cao ◽  
Zhen Huang

Parallel mechanisms which can realize three rotational motions are very important in the parallel mechanism family. Not the same with the traditional spherical parallel mechanism, a new kind of 3-DOF (degree of freedom) rotational parallel mechanism with no intersecting axes (RPMNIA) are proposed in this paper. This kind of rotational parallel mechanisms have the advantages of easy manufacturing. A new approach using the screw theory and the subchain theory is proposed to design the branches with only one constraint force and some new one-force-branches are found. Using these new branches, a group of 3-DOF rotational parallel mechanisms without intersecting axes are synthesized.


Author(s):  
Antoin Baker ◽  
Carl D. Crane

The mechanism studied in this paper is a three degree of freedom 6×6 tensegrity structure. A tensegrity structure is one that balances internal (pre-stressed) forces of tension and compression. These structures have the unique property of stabilizing themselves if subjected to certain types of disturbances. The structure analyzed in this paper consists of two rigid bodies (platforms) connected by a total of six members. Three of the members are noncompliant constant-length struts and the other three members consist of springs. For typical parallel mechanisms, if the bottom platform is connected to the ground and the top platform is connected to the base by six compliant leg connectors, the top platform will have six degrees of freedom relative to the bottom platform. However, because three of the six members connecting the two platforms are noncompliant constant-length struts, the top platform has only three degrees of freedom. The primary contribution of this paper is the analysis of the three degree of freedom tensegrity platform. Specifically, given the location of the connector points on the base and top platforms, the lengths of the three noncompliant constant-length struts, and the desired location of a point embedded in the top platform measured with respect to a coordinate system attached to the base, all possible orientations of the top platform are determined.


Author(s):  
Ting-Li Yang ◽  
An-Xin Liu ◽  
Qiong Jin ◽  
Yu-Feng Luo ◽  
Lu-Bin Hang ◽  
...  

Based on previous research results presented by authors, this paper proposes a novel systematic approach for structure synthesis of all parallel mechanisms (excluding Bennett mechanism etc), which is totally different from the approaches based on screw theory and based on displacement subgroup. Main characteristics of this approach are: (a) the synthesized mechanisms are non-instantaneous ones, and (b) only simple mathematical tools (vector algebra, theory of sets, etc.) are used. Main steps of this approach include: (1) Determining functional and structural requirements of the parallel mechanism to be synthesized, such as position and orientation characteristic (POC) matrix, degree of freedom (DOF), etc. (2) Type synthesis of branches. (3) Assembling of branches (determining the geometry constraint conditions among the branches attached between the moving platform and the frame, and checking the DOF). (4) Identifying the inactive joints. (5) Selecting the actuating joints. In order to illustrate the whole procedure, the type synthesis of spherical parallel mechanisms is studied using this approach.


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