Kinematic analysis and optimal design of 3-PPR planar parallel manipulator

This paper proposes a 3-PPR planar parallel manipulator, which consists of three active prismatic joints, three passive prismatic joints, and three passive rotational joints. The analysis of the kinematics and the optimal design of the manipulator are also discussed. The proposed manipulator has the advantages of the closed type of direct kinematics and a void-free workspace with a convex type of borderline. For the kinematic analysis of the proposed manipulator, the direct kinematics, the inverse kinematics, and the inverse Jacobian of the manipulator are derived. After the rotational limits and the workspaces of the manipulator are investigated, the workspace of the manipulator is simulated. In addition, for the optimal design of the manipulator, the performance indices of the manipulator are investigated, and then an optimal design procedure is carried out using Min-Max theory. Finally, one example using the optimal design is presented.