Non-singular 3-DOF planar parallel manipulator with high orientational capability for a hybrid machine tool

Since almost all symmetric 3-DOF planar parallel manipulators have inherent singularities which limits the usable workspace, a 3-PPR planar parallel one in a non conventional architecture is developed in this paper for a hybrid machine tool. This architecture permits a large workspace with unlimited orientation capability and no singularities. It also has the advantage of being partially decoupled to independently control the actuators. The kinematics, singularities, orientation capability and workspace analyses of the developed manipulator are studied to verify those advantages. The kinematic and dynamic performances are investigated based on non-dimensional design parameters space. The local kinematic and dynamic dexterity indices are proven to be uniform within the constant orientation workspace. Simulation results are finally presented to verify a high dexterity non-singular planar parallel manipulator.