Jacobian Analysis of Limited-DOF Parallel Manipulators

This paper presents a methodology for the Jacobian analysis of limited degrees-of-freedom (DOF) parallel manipulators. A limited-DOF parallel manipulator is a spatial parallel manipulator which has less than six degrees-of-freedom. It is shown that a 6 × 6 Jacobian matrix, which provides complete information about singularities, can be derived by making use of the theory of reciprocal screws. The 3-UPU and 3-RPS parallel manipulators are used as examples to demonstrate the methodology.Copyright © 2002 by ASME