On the design of manipulators for applying wrenches

The authors consider the design of series-parallel and in-parallel manipulators which are required to exert prescribed wrenches on the environment. The design methodology is based on statics because the resulting design equations are polynomials. The design equations for a series manipulator are obtained by taking appropriate components of the force and moment balance equations at each joint, at static equilibrium. For the in-parallel manipulators, the design equations are obtained from the static equilibrium equations of the coupler link only. The proposed ideas are a simple extension of the ideas of B. Roth (1988) to linkages which include helical, cylindric, and spherical joints