KINEMATIC STRUCTURAL SYNTHESIS OF

3-TRANSLATIONAL WEAKLY-COUPLED PARALLEL MECHANISMS BASED ON HYBRID CHAINS

Shen Huiping

(Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu Polytechnic University, Changzhou 213016)

Ma Lü zhong

(College of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhengjiang 212013)

Yang Tingli

(Sinopec Jinling Petrochemical Corporations, Nanjing 210037)

Abstract: A systematic methodology for synthesizing kinematic structures of 3-DOF weakly-coupled translational parallel mechanisms is presented, which considerates hybrid chain as the “limps” connecting the moving platform with the base .The design procedures for hybrid chains are also explored. Moveover, eight promising 3-DOF translational parallel kinematic structures with lower coupling degree between independent loops are presented originally .The much more alternatives to these kinematic structures also could be obtained by altering the location and the type of the driving joints within loops or by changing some partial sub-structures .The classification of these parallel kinematic structures is identified according to the four structure evaluation criteria suggested here by the authors ,i.e. structure topological symmetry, coupling degree value between independent loops, input-output motion decoupling degree and  manufacturability.

Key words: Parallel robotics  Parallel mechanisms  Type synthesis  Hybrid chains  Single-opened chains

CLC No: TH112   TP242 

国家自然科学基金(50275070、50375067)和江苏省自然科学基金(BK2001413)资助项目. Received 20040520, received in revised form 20041010