Kinematics and Workspace Analysis of a Three-Axis Parallel Manipulator: the Orthoglide

The paper addresses kinematic and geometrical aspects of the Orthoglide, a three-DOF parallel mechanism. This machine consists of three fixed linear joints, which are mounted orthogonally, three identical legs and a mobile platform, which moves in the Cartesian x-y-z space with fixed orientation. New solutions to solve inverse/direct kinematics are proposed and we perform a detailed workspace and singularity analysis, taking into account specific joint limit constraints

Workspace and Kinematic Analysis of the VERNE machine

This paper describes the workspace and the inverse and direct kinematic analysis of the VERNE machine, a serial/parallel 5-axis machine tool designed by Fatronik for IRCCyN. This machine is composed of a three-degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel module and a two-DOF serial tilting table. The parallel module consists of a moving platform that is connected to a fixed base by three non-identical legs. This feature involves (i) a simultaneous combination of rotation and translation for the moving platform, which is balanced by the tilting table and (ii) workspace whose shape and volume vary as a function of the tool length. This paper summarizes results obtained in the context of the European projects NEXT ("Next Generation of Productions Systems")