Performance analysis and optimization of a novel large displacement 3-DOF parallel manipulator

In recent years, nanotechnology has been developing rapidly due to its potential applications in various fields that new materials and products are produced. In this paper, a novel macro/micro 3-DOF parallel platform is proposed for micro positioning application. The kinematics model of the dual parallel mechanism system is established via the stiffness model of individual wide-range flexure hinge and vector-loop equation. The inverse solution and parasitic rotation of moving platform is analyzed and simulated on a parallel mechanism with real parameters. Where after, the reachable and usable workspace of the macro motion and micro motion of the mechanism are plotted and analyzed. Finally, based on the analysis of parasitic rotation, usable workspace of macro and micro motion, an optimization of the parallel manipulator is presented. The investigations of this paper will provide suggestions to improve the structure and control algorithm optimization for the dual parallel mechanism in order to achieve the features of both larger workspace and higher motion precision.