Constraint design principle of large-displacement flexure systems

In the family of large-range flexure systems, large-deflection flexural pivots, linear-motion guiding stages, XY compliant parallel micromanipulators (CPMs) are commonly used in a variety of fields. The issue related to their design, however, is concerned with minor literatures. In this paper, we focus on the design of these large-range flexure systems from the view of constraint-based design principle. The proposed approach is established upon the combination of type synthesis and improved stiffness design within the framework of screw theory and compliance transformation. In this study, graphic-based type synthesis of large-range flexure systems with symmetrical geometry and composed of constraint elements is first provided for selecting those useful configurations in an intuitive way. Subsequently, a compliance-based compensation approach is presented which is applicable for synthesizing large-range flexure systems that eliminate parasitic errors. Finally, a case study for design of XY CPMs is provided to illustrate the constraint-based approach.