Reconfiguration analysis of a 4-DOF 3-RER parallel manipulator with equilateral triangular base and moving platform

Xianwen Kong*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)
106 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper deals with the reconfiguration analysis of a 4-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) 3-RER parallel manipulator (PM) with equilateral triangular base and moving platform (ETBP), which is a special case of a 4-DOF PM in the literature. The 4-DOF 3-RER PM is composed of a base and a moving platform connected by three 3-RER legs, each of which is a serial kinematic chain composed of a revolute (R) joint, a planar (E) joint and an R joint in sequence. At first, a set of constraint equations of the 3-RER PM with ETBP is derived with the orientation of the moving platform represented using a Euler parameter quaternion (also Euler-Rodrigues quaternion) and then solved in closed form. It is found that the 3-RER PM with ETBP has three 4-DOF operation modes if both the base and moving platform are identical or two 4-DOF operation modes if the base and moving platform are not identical. The motion characteristics of the moving platform are obtained using the kinematic interpretation of Euler parameter quaternions with certain number of constant zero components, which was presented in a recent paper by the author of this paper. The transition configurations among different operation modes are also identified.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)180-189
Number of pages10
JournalMechanism and Machine Theory
Volume98
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2016

Keywords

  • Euler parameters
  • Operation mode
  • Parallel manipulator with multiple operation modes
  • Quaternion
  • Reconfiguration analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Bioengineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reconfiguration analysis of a 4-DOF 3-RER parallel manipulator with equilateral triangular base and moving platform'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this