Optimal Design of a Parallel Micromanipulator for Precision Machining

A parallel micromanipulator (PmM) which can be applied into the precision machining is optimized in the paper. This paper adopts a methodology to determine a set of optimal design parameters of PmM whose workspace is as close as possible of being equal to a prescribed cuboid dexterous workspace (PCDW). The kinematic problem is analyzed in brief to determine the design parameters and their relation. Then, an optimal design procedure which adopts the generalized pattern search algorithm in the genetic algorithm and direct search toolbox of Matlab is proposed to solve these problems. As an applying example, the results of four cases PCDW to PmM are presented. And the design result is compared with a concept of the distance between the best state of the PmM and the requirement of the operation task. The method and result of this paper are very useful for the design of micromanipulator for the machining field which requires the high precision and accuracy.