Geometric and manufacturing issues of the 3-UPU pure translational manipulator

Abstract

This paper collects the most relevant results on singularities and workspace of the Tsai manipulator, a parallel manipulator that provides its mobile platform with three degree of freedom of pure translation with respect to its fixed base. The paper investigates the influence of some geometric parameters - specifically the orientation of the base/platform revolute axes and the locations of its legs - on the structure of the manipulator and consequently on the manipulator performances, mainly in terms of singularity loci and workspace size. New promising manipulator geometries are presented and some manufacturing solutions are proposed for leg collision avoidance. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.