Compliance Realization With Planar Serial Mechanisms Having Fixed Link Lengths

In this article, the synthesis of any specified planar compliance with a serial elastic mechanism having previously determined link lengths is addressed. For a general n-joint serial mechanism, easily assessed necessary conditions on joint locations for the realization of a given compliance are identified. Geometric construction-based synthesis procedures for five-joint and six-joint serial mechanisms having kinematically redundant fixed link lengths are developed. By using these procedures, a given serial manipulator can achieve a large set of different compliant behaviors by using variable stiffness actuation and by adjusting the mechanism configuration.