Mobility Analysis of A Novel 4-DoF Parallel Manipulator

A 4_DoF parallel manipulator with identical serial limbs is usually an overconstrained mechanism. The traditional mobility analysis theory may leads a wrong result for the mobility analysis of an overconstrained mechanism. In this paper, a systematic mobility analysis approach based on screw theory is proposed, and applied to a novel 4_DoF parallel manipulator with identical serial limbs. The analysis results are not only determining the DoF number, but also providing the information on mobility characteristics of the mechanism. The work described in this paper will be helpful for the further research on this novel parallel manipulator.