Singularity analysis of CaPaMan: A three-degree of freedom spatial parallel manipulator

CaPaMan (Cassino parallel manipulator) is a three-degree of freedom parallel mechanism that has been designed and built at the Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics in Cassino. In the paper a study of the configuration singularities of the CaPaMan manipulator is presented by considering two different methods: an algebraic formulation and a vector analysis. It is shown that a formulation can give singularity related to the failure of the kinematic model at particular configurations of the manipulator. It is also proved that this type of singularity can be avoided by a proper analysis of the problem.