Architectures

Abstract

This chapter will present a rather exhaustive enumeration of parallel robots mechanical architectures as described in current literature on the subject and updated on the Internet at:

• http://www.inria.fr/saga/personnel/merlet/Archi/archi_robot.html

• The list will be classified by increasing numbers of degrees of freedom, from 2 to 6, for the end-effector. In the figures actuated joints will be represented by arrowed vectors, while passive joints will be indicated, if necessary, by dashed vectors. General principles for a synthesis will then be introduced.

• Examples of the use of parallel robots for very diverse applications will be discussed. One type of parallel manipulator will then be chosen to be studied more specifically in the remainder of this book.