Geometric construction-based realization of planar elastic behaviors with parallel and serial manipulators

Abstract

This paper addresses the passive realization of any selected planar elastic behavior with a parallel or a serial manipulator. Sets of necessary and sufficient conditions for a mechanism to passively realize an elastic behavior are presented. These conditions completely decouple the requirements on component elastic properties from the requirements on mechanism kinematics. The restrictions on the set of elastic behaviors that can be realized with a mechanism are described in terms of acceptable locations of realizable elastic behavior centers. Parallel–serial mechanism pairs that realize identical elastic behaviors (dual elastic mechanisms) are described. New construction-based synthesis procedures for planar elastic behaviors are developed. Using these procedures, one can select the geometry of each elastic component from a restricted space of kinematically allowable candidates. With each selection, the space is further restricted until the desired elastic behavior is achieved.