Orientation Workspace Analysis of a 3-DoF Planar Parallel Kinematic Machine

In this paper, kinematic and workspace analysis of 3-DoF planar Parallel Kinematic Machine (PKM) is carried out. The mechanism consists of three legs in which two legs have Prismatic-RevolutePrismatic joints and other leg has Prismatic-Prismatic-Revolute joints, it termed as 2-PRP and 1-PPR planar parallel kinematic machine. By these joints, the mechanism can achieve two translational motions and one rotational motion. The kinematic analysis is carried out to find the joint positions for a particular position of moving platform. Afterwards, the two types of orientation workspace, namely, inclusive workspace and total orientation workspace are studied. Moreover, non-dimensional performance indices that depict the workspace characteristics of the mechanism, namely, Workspace Index, Global Dexterity Index are also determined.