Singularity Analysis for a 5-DoF Fully-Symmetrical Parallel Manipulator 5-RRR(RR)

A 5-DoF 3R2T (three dimensional rotation and two dimensional translation degrees of freedom) fully-symmetrical parallel manipulator can be adopted in many applications such as simulating the motion of spinal column. However, kinematics of this type parallel manipulator has not been studied enough because of short history. The study of kinematics of the manipulators leads inevitably to the problem of singular configuration. Singularity of a 5-DoF 3R2T fully-symmetrical parallel manipulator, 5-RlowbarRI.ubar;RI.ubar;(RR), is illustrated in this study. According to the singularity classification by Fang and Tsai, both limb singularity and actuation singularity are illustrated by screw theory and Grassmann geometry. The result of this study will be helpful for singularity analysis of 5-DoF 3R2T fully-symmetrical parallel manipulators because of their similar constraint property.