Architecture Selection and Singularity Analysis of a Three-Degree-of-Freedom Planar Parallel Manipulator

A three degree-of-freedom planar parallel manipulator, intended for high-speed, high-precision wire-bonding and electronic-component placement tasks, has been developed in our laboratory. In this paper, the work related to the kinematic manipulator-architecture selection is presented. The reachable workspace and "effective base area" metrics of the parallel manipulator were utilized for selecting the best possible architecture amongst six potential configurations. Constant platform-orientation regions, within the reachable workspace of the selected manipulator, were identified based on the manipulator task requirements. Simulation results for the workspace analyses (reachable workspace, effective base areas, and constant-orientation regions) are presented in this paper. Once the optimal-workspace architecture was selected, both workspace-boundary and internal singularities were further investigated in order to have a clear view of the set of uncontrollable poses of the manipulator. Singularity analyses examples are also included herein.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]