Optimal mechanism design and dynamic analysis of a 3-leg 6-DOF linear motor based parallel manipulator

This paper presents the optimal mechanism design and dynamic analysis of a prototype 3-leg 6-DOF (degree-of-freedom) parallel manipulator. Inverse kinematics, forward kinematics, inverse dynamics and working space characterizing the platform motion are derived. In the presented architecture, the base platform has three linear slideways individually actuated by a synchronous linear servo motor, and each extensible vertical link connecting the upper and base platforms is actuated by an inductive AC servo motor. The linear motors contribute high-speed movements to the upper platform. This kind of architecture using hybrid (linear and AC) motors yields high level performance of motions, especially in the working space. The novel result of maximal working angles is the significant contribution of this architecture. The Taguchi Experimental Method is applied to design the optimal mechanism of the platform system, and the result is used as the actual data to build this system.