Mechanism and Machine Theory 37 (2002) 13951411

www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt

New kinematic structures for 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-DOF

parallel manipulator designs
Feng Gao

a,*

, Weimin Li a, Xianchao Zhao b, Zhenlin Jin c, Hui Zhao

Robotic Research Center, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, PR China

Robotic Research Center, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, Hebei 066004, PR China
Robotic Research Institute, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100083, PR China
b

Received 11 January 2001; accepted 11 April 2002

Abstract
In this paper, several types of composite pairs and new kinds of sub-chains (limbs or legs) with specic
degrees of freedom are proposed. Based on the special Pl
ucker coordinates for describing the displacement
of the output link of a limb, the principle for design of structures of parallel robotic mechanisms is presented. And several new types of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF parallel robotic mechanisms are obtained.
2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Stewart platform; Parallel robots; Mechanisms

1. Introduction
Since Stewart used the 6-DOF parallel mechanism for ight simulator in 1965 [1], the parallel
mechanisms have been named Stewart platform which has been used in the robotic area frequently, and have been under increasing developments over the last few years from a theoretical
view point as well as for practical applications. The parallel mechanisms have been utilized for
many practical applications, where high load carrying capacity (ight simulator, automobile
simulator, tank simulator, earthquake simulator and so on), good kinematic and dynamic performance (parallel machine tools, Delta robot for very fast pick-and-place tasks of light loads,
force and torque sensors, legs of walking machine) and precise positioning (micro-manipulators, manipulator for ophthalmic surgery operation) are of paramount importance. Recently,

Corresponding author.

0094-114X/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 9 4 - 1 1 4 X ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 4 4 - 7

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Merlet [2], Dasgupta and Mruthyunjaya [3] presented state-of-the-art reviews of the literature on
the Stewart platform manipulators, in detail.
The mechanical design of parallel robots requires the application of engineering expertise in
a variety of areas. Important disciplines include mechanism design, structure design, and mechanical, control and electrical engineering. In the invention and design of parallel robots, the
contriving of the new types of robotic mechanisms is one of the most important activities, because
the mechanisms determine the performance characteristics of the robots. An interesting and
dicult problem is to nd a method to design a mechanical architecture for a parallel manipulator
being given its number and type of degree of freedom. Hunt [4] suggested the use of parallelactuated mechanisms like the ght simulator of Stewart as 6-DOF robot manipulators. Signicant
contributions, which carried the realm of parallel manipulators from its infancy into the status of
a popular research topic, were made by the thought-provoking works of Earl and Rooney [5] and
Hunt [6]. Earl and Rooney [5] analyzed the kinematic structures for robotic applications and their
interconnections including both serial and parallel mechanisms and presented methods for synthesis of new kinematic structures. Hunt [6] studied the structural kinematics of parallel manipulators on the basis of screw theory and enumerated promising kinematic structures. Pernette and
Henein [7] presented the method for design of a 3-DOF parallel translating manipulator with
UPU joints kinematic chains. The planar 2-DOF parallel manipulators are 5-bar linkages with
5 revolute joints [8] or 3 revolute joints and 2 prismatic pairs. The planar 3-DOF parallel manipulators [9,10] are 8-bar linkages with two ternary links (frame and end-eector) connected
through three in-parallel legs, each leg consisting of two links. Though a number of mechanisms
are possible by dierent combinations of revolute and prismatic joints at the legs, two of them
having 3-RRR and 3-RPR structures have attracted wide research interest. The spherical 3-DOF
parallel manipulator [11,12] consists of two bodies connected through three in-parallel legs
(mostly RRR with axes of all revolute joints passing through a point) such that any motion of
the end-eector is always on a sphere. The Delta robot [13] is with 3 translational degrees of
freedom.
Although many researchers have paid attention to the design of the parallel robot mechanisms,
and proposed several types of parallel mechanisms, for instance, 2- and 3-DOF planar parallel
mechanisms, Delta robots with 3 translational degrees of freedom, 3-DOF spherical robots and

Fig. 1. Traditional types of pairs.

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Fig. 2. New types of composite pairs.

Table 1
Classication of simple limbs
DOF

Pairs

Types of limbs

P, S, S
U, P, S
R, S, S
U, R, S

SPS, PSS
UPS, PUS
RSS, SRS
URS, RUS

R, R, S
R, P, S
P, U, U

RRS, RSR
RPS, RSP, PRS, PSR
PUU, UPU

P, U, R

PUR, PRU, UPR, RPU

R, R, R
R, P, R
H, R, P

RRR
RPR, PRR
HRP, PRH, RPH

R, R
P, R

PR, RP

6-DOF parallel mechanisms, there is still lack of the types of parallel mechanisms, especially 2-, 3-,
4- and 5-DOF parallel robot mechanisms with desired end-eector motions. The reason for this is

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Table 2
Classication of composite limbs
DOF

Pairs

Types of limbs

P, U , U
R, U
, U
P, ^ U, U
P, U^ , U
R, ^ U, U
R, U^ , U
R, P U, U
R, UP , U
R, U
, C
C, U^ , R

PU
U, UPU
, U
PU
RU
U, U
RU, UU
R
P^ UU, UP^ U, ^ UPU
PU^ U, U^ PU, UU^ P
R^ UU, ^ URU, ^ UUR
RU^ U, U^ RU, UU^ R
RP UU, URP U, P URU
R UP U, UP RU, UUP R
CU
R, RU
C, CRU

CU^ R, RU^ C, RCU^

P, U
, R
R, R, U

P, ^ U, R
R, ^ U, R
P, UP , R
R, UP , R
C, U

C, U^

PU
R, U
PR, RU
P

RU
R, U
RR, RRU

P^ UR, RP^ U, R^ UP
R^ UR, RR^ U, ^ URR
PUP R, RUP P, UP PR
RUP R, RRUP , UP RR
CU
, U
C
CU^ , U^ C

P, U

R, U

P, U^
R, U^

PU
, U
P
RU
, U
R
PU^ , U^ P
RU^ , U^ R

U, UP , ^ U, U^ , U

Fig. 3. The limbs with traditional structures.

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that there is not the ecient and general theory for type synthesis of parallel mechanisms being
given the number and types of degrees of freedom. This paper presents the theory for innovation
and invention of new types of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF parallel mechanisms.

2. Classication of pairs
Parallel robotic mechanisms consist of links and pairs or joints. The traditional types of pairs
are prismatic pair (P), revolute joint (R), spherical joint (S), helix pair (H), cylinder pair (C), and
universal joint (U), as shown in Fig. 1. However, only using the traditional pairs is dicult to
design the parallel robotic mechanisms with specic 2, 3, 4 and 5 DOF. The reason for this is that
it is hard to obtain the limbs with specic 2, 3, 4 and 5 DOF. For example, although both the
limbs RPS and UPU have 5 DOF, it is hard to determine the kinematic characteristics of their
end-eectors because of the coupled motions.
In this paper, we propose several new types of composite joints, which are very useful for design
of parallel robotic mechanisms. The joints are pure-translation universal joint (U
), translationand-rotation universal joint (U^ or ^ U), and pure-planar-translation universal joint (P U or UP ), as
shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4. The limbs with composite structures.

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3. Classication of limbs
For investigation of the type synthesis of the parallel mechanisms, the key issue is to nd the
limbs with known kinematic characteristics, that is to say, with specied degrees of freedom.
Therefore, we have to discuss the classication of the limbs for parallel mechanisms. The limbs are
Table 3
2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF limbs with specic kinematic characteristics
DOF

Pairs of
limbs

Characteristics for structures of

limbs

Kinematic
constraints

Characteristics of kinematic constraints of limbs

P, U
, U
P, ^ U, U

No special requirement
Each limb has two parallel axes
among joints R, ^ U, U^ and U

Constraining rotation along with

the axis perpendicular to the two
axes of universal joint

R, U
, U
P, U^ , U
R, P U, U
R, UP , U
R, ^ U, U

Each limb has three parallel axes

among joints R, ^ U, U^ and U

R, U^ , U

R, U
, C

No special requirement

Constraining rotation along with

the axis perpendicular to the two
axes of joints R and C

R, U^ , C

Each limb has two parallel axes

among joints R, ^ U and C

Constraining rotation along with

the axis perpendicular to the axes
of joints R, ^ U and C

P, U
, R

No special requirement

Constraining rotations along with

the tow axes perpendicular to the
axis of joint R

R, R, U

P, ^ U, R

The rotation axes of all joints

(R, ^ U, U^ and C) for each
limb are parallel each other

Constraining rotations along with

the tow axes perpendicular to the
axes of joints R, ^ U, U^ and C

No special requirement

Constraining three-axis rotations

The translation axis of pair P is

perpendicular to the axes of
joint U^ or ^ U
The translation axis of pair P is
perpendicular to the axes of
4-bar linkage

Constraining the three-axis

rotations

Constraining the three-axis rotations and one-axis translation

R, ^ U, R
P, UP , R
R, UP , R
C, U

C, U^
3

P, U

^

P, U
P, ^ U
2

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the sub-chains connected between the upper platform and lower platform of parallel robotic
mechanisms. Tables 1 and 2 show the classication of the simple and composite limbs for parallel
mechanisms, respectively, in which, the rst letter expresses the joint connected with xed frame
(lower platform), and the last letter represents the joint connected with moving platform (upper
platform). For instance, the limb UPS means that the limb is connected with xed frame by the
joint U and linked with moving platform by the joint S. By using the joints as shown in Figs. 1 and
2, the limbs with traditional structures and composite structures are proposed as shown in Figs. 3
and 4, respectively.
In Fig. 4, the limb PU^ U has 5 DOF, in which U^ is a planar parallelogram; the limb PU
U has
5 DOF, in which U
represents 3-UU with the same link lengths; and limbs PU
R has 4 DOF.
Table 3 shows the classication of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF limbs with specic kinematic characteristics, from which we can see that the composite joints U
, ^ U, U^ , P U and UP are very useful
for design of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF limbs with specic kinematic characteristics.

4. Principle for type design of parallel robotic mechanisms

Although one has had the theory for calculation of degrees of freedom for planar and spatial
mechanisms, the theory cannot be used for analyzing and synthesizing the structural types of
parallel robotic mechanisms, which have less than 6 DOF. The reason for this is that the available
theory just relates the pairs and links, but the limbs, so that it is hard to calculate the degrees
of freedom of some of parallel robotic mechanisms correctly. For example, according to the
Table 4
Special Pl
ucker coordinates of limbs
DOF

Limbs

$j
vxj

vyj

vzj

xaj

xbj

xcj

UPS
SPS
PUS

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

R^ UU
P^ UU
PU
U

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

0
0
0

PU
R
P^ UR
R^ UR
CU^

1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

PU^
PU

RPR
RRR
RRR

1
1
1
1
0

1
1
1
1
0

0
1
0
0
0

1
0
0
0
1

0
0
0
0
1

0
0
1
1
1

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Table 5
Classication of parallel robot mechanisms
DOF

Each number
is the DOF of
each limb

Examples

Characteristics of Kinematic performance of upper

structures
platform

2, 2
3, 2

2-P U
1-RRR & 1-P U
1-RPR & 1-P U

Planar

3, 2

3-RRR & 1-RR

1-RPR & 1-RP

Planar

6, 2

1-UPS & 1-P U

3, 3, 3

Rotations

Translations

0
0
0

2
2
2

Planar

3-RRR

Spherical

3-RRR
3-RPR
3-PRR

Planar

1
1
1

2
2
2

3-PU

3-U
P

Spatial

0
0

3
3

4, 4, 4

3-PU
R
3-P^ UR
3-CU^
3-^ UC
3-RPC
3-RRC

Spatial

0
0
0
0
0
0

3
3
3
3
3
3

5, 5, 5

3-PU
U
3-P^ UU
Delta
3-RPS
3-SPR

Spatial
Spatial
Spatial
3-DOF
3-DOF

0
0
0

3
3
3

6,
4,
4,
5,
6,

3-UPS & 1-UP

1-P^ UR & 2-PU^
2-P^ UR & 1-PU^
2-PU
U & 1-PU

2-PUS & 1-PU

3-DOF
1
1
0
0

2
2
3
3

2-PUU & 2-PU
R

2-PUU & 2-P^ UR
2-PUS & 2-PU
R
2-PUS & 2-P^ UR

Two axes of pairs 1

R are parallel
1
each other
1
1

3
3
3
3

6, 6, 6, 4

3-PUS & 1-P UU

3-PUS & 1-PU
R
3-PUS & 1-P^ UR

2
1
1

2
3
3

6, 6, 6, 6, 5

4-PUS & 1-PU
U

4-PUS & 1-P^ UU
4-SPS & 1-PU
U

2
2
2

3
3
3

6,
3,
4,
5,
6,

6, 3
3
3
3
3

5, 5, 4, 4
6, 6, 4, 4

Spatial

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Table 5 (continued)
DOF

Each number is
the DOF of each
limb

Examples

6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

6-PUS
6-SPS
6-UPS
6-RUS
6-RSS
3-PRPS

6, 6, 6

Characteristics of Kinematic performance of upper

structures
platform

Each limb has 2

actuators

Rotations

Translations

3
3
3
3
3
3

3
3
3
3
3
3

available theory for calculation of degrees of freedom, the degrees of freedom for the 3-UPU
parallel mechanism could be 3, but actually, the mechanism can have 3 or 4 or 5 DOF, which
depends on the position of the end-eector.
For design of parallel robotic mechanisms with specic kinematic characteristics, it is very
important to discuss the limbs with specic kinematic characteristics. For convenience, we let $ be

Fig. 5. 2-P U.

Fig. 6. 2-PU^ & 1-P^ UR.

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F. Gao et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 37 (2002) 13951411

Fig. 7. 2-CU^ & 1-PU^ .

Fig. 8. 2-P^ UR & 1-PU^ .

Fig. 9. 3-CU^ .

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Fig. 10. 3-P^ UR.

Fig. 11. 3-PU
.

Fig. 12. 3-PU
R.

the special Pl
ucker coordinates for describing the displacement of the output link of a limb for a
parallel mechanism, which is
$j vxj

vyj

vzj ; xaj

xbj

xcj

where, vj vxj vyj vzj expresses the translation of the output link of the limb j, and
xj xaj xbj xcj denotes the rotation of the output link of the limb j with respect to three

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F. Gao et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 37 (2002) 13951411

Fig. 13. 3-PU
U.

Fig. 14. 3-RRR (planar).

Fig. 15. 3-RRR (spherical).

Eulers angles, a, b and c. The special Pl

ucker coordinates vxj , vyj , vzj , xaj , xbj , xcj can be taken as 1
or 0. When taking 1, it means that the limb j has that degree of freedom; when taking 0, it means
that the limb j has no that degree of freedom. From Eq. (1), we can obtain 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-DOF
limbs with specic kinematic characteristics, as shown in Table 4, in which the limbs satisfy the
kinematic constraints as shown in Table 3.
In a parallel mechanism, if the parallel mechanism has specic degrees of freedom ($), the limbs
1; 2; . . . and n by which the upper platform (moving end-eector) is connected with lower platform
(xed frame) have to satisfy the following condition:

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Fig. 16. Delta.

Fig. 17. 3-RPS.

Fig. 18. 2-PU
R & 2-PUS.

$ $1 \ $2    \ $n

Eq. (2) expresses that the special Pl

ucker coordinates of the nal motion generated by the
upper platform of a parallel mechanism are equal to the intersection of the special Pl
ucker coordinates of all limbs in the mechanism, which is the principle for type design of parallel robotic

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F. Gao et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 37 (2002) 13951411

mechanisms with specic degrees of freedom. Eq. (2) is very useful for design of parallel robotic
mechanisms with the specic degrees of freedom.

Fig. 19. 4-PU
R.

Fig. 20. 2-P^ UU & 2-P^ UR.

Fig. 21. 3-UPS & 1-UP.

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Fig. 22. 6-RSS.

Fig. 23. 6-PSS (Hexaslider).

Fig. 24. 3-PRPS.

5. Structure types of parallel mechanisms

The previous section have considered the procedure for design of parallel robotic mechanisms,
especially lower dimensional versions of the parallel mechanisms by the intersection of the special
Pl
ucker coordinates of all limbs in the mechanism. Based on the limbs as shown in Tables 14, the
classication of the parallel mechanisms with specic 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 DOF can be obtained, as

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F. Gao et al. / Mechanism and Machine Theory 37 (2002) 13951411

Fig. 25. 1-PU
U & 4-PSS.

shown in Table 5 and Figs. 525. Fig. 21 shows the 3-DOF parallel robot with 4 limbs (3-UPS &
1-UP), in which the 3 DOF depend on the limb UP. Fig. 24 shows the 6-DOF parallel robot with
3 limbs (3-PRPS), in which each limb has 2 actuators.

6. Conclusions
Design of structure types of parallel robotic mechanisms is a key issue in robotic area, because
of lack of the parallel robotic mechanisms in lower dimensional spaces. In this paper, several types
of composite pairs and new kinds of sub-chains (limbs) with specic degrees of freedom are
proposed. The principle for design of structures of parallel robotic mechanisms is presented, based
on the special Pl
ucker coordinates for describing the displacement of the output link of a limb.
And several new types of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-DOF parallel robotic mechanisms are obtained.
References
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