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A novel numerical approach for workspace determination of parallel mechanisms

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Abstract

In this paper, a novel numerical approach is proposed for workspace determination of parallel mechanisms. Compared with the classical numerical approaches, this presented approach discretizes both location and orientation of the mechanism simultaneously, not only one of the two. This technique makes the presented numerical approach applicable in determining almost all types of workspaces, while traditional numerical approaches are only applicable in determining the constant orientation workspace and orientation workspace. The presented approach and its steps to determine the inclusive orientation workspace and total orientation workspace are described in detail. A lower-mobility parallel mechanism and a six-degrees-of-freedom Stewart platform are set as examples, the workspaces of these mechanisms are estimated and visualized by the proposed numerical approach. Furthermore, the efficiency of the presented approach is discussed. The examples show that the presented approach is applicable in determining the inclusive orientation workspace and total orientation workspace of parallel mechanisms with high efficiency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    Yiqun Zhou, Junchuan Niu, Zhihui Liu & Fuliang Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Shandong University, Ministry of Education, Jinan, China

    Junchuan Niu

Authors
  1. Yiqun Zhou
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  2. Junchuan Niu
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  3. Zhihui Liu
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  4. Fuliang Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junchuan Niu.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Kyoungchul Kong

Yiqun Zhou received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wuhan University in 2014. At present, he is a master degree candidate at Shandong University. His research interests include robotic and control.

Junchuan Niu received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Shandong University in 2003 and worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Imperial College London from 2009 to 2010. He has been a Professor of Shandong University since 2010. His research interests include robotics, vibration control and energy finite element analysis.

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Zhou, Y., Niu, J., Liu, Z. et al. A novel numerical approach for workspace determination of parallel mechanisms. J Mech Sci Technol 31, 3005–3015 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0544-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0544-z

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