Reshaping the singularities in 3 D.O.F 3-RRR planar parallel manipulator by varying the position of the actuator

Abstract

A parallel manipulator has good payload, greater accuracy, and stiffness; however its workspace has complex kinematics singularities which become a stumbling block in its use. In this paper, a novel approach of changing the base actuator to relocate/reduce the singularities within the workspace is proposed. The proposed approach is implemented in a 3-RRR planar parallel manipulator. Results show that there is a trend in the number of singularities with respect to the change in location of the base actuator and it can be used to reduce or relocate the singularities while planning a singularity free path within its workspace.