Structures and characteristics of parallel manipulators

Parallel structures have remarkable characteristics such as high precision, high load capacity, high rigidity and high speed. Therefore, they have received a lot of attention as alternative structures for robot manipulators. This paper reviews the recent results on properties of the parallel manipulator. First, the basics of the link mechanism, which is necessary to understand the structure of the parallel manipulator, is summarized before the structure of the parallel manipulator is defined. Then, the parallel manipulator is compared with the serial manipulator. The singular point of the parallel manipulator and the optimum design of the structure of the parallel manipulator are also discussed.