Type synthesis and kinematic analysis of a new class Schönflies motion parallel manipulator

In this paper, a class of new spatial 4-DOF Schönflies motion parallel manipulator with four identical chains is presented. This class parallel mechanism is non-redundant, and has the most simple structure and is especially fit for pick and place operations. The type synthesis and mobility analysis is described first, some parallel manipulators are invented for the first time. The inverse and forward kinematics problems for the manipulator are all described, the solution of inverse kinematics and the solution of forward kinematics are all sixteen. The velocity equation of the mechanism is given, and two kinds of singularities are discussed. The results show that the moving platform and the base must be in dissimilar dimension. The workspace of the manipulator is given at last.