Synthesis of 6-DOF 3-Chain Isotropic Parallel

Manipulators
K. Y. Tsai, T. K. Lee
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
#43,Sec.4,Keelung Rd.,Taipei,106,Taiwan,R.O.C
kytsai@mail.ntust.edu.tw
D9403104@mail.ntust.edu.tw

AbstractIsotropic manipulators are generally considered as

manipulators with optimum dexterity. Currently, many serial,
redundant, or parallel isotropic manipulators can be easily
developed from the so-called isotropic generators that consist of six
straight lines and a reference point. Most existing isotropic
generators, however, cannot be employed to develop 6-DOF
isotropic parallel manipulators with less kinematic chains. This
paper presents special isotropic generators for developing 6-DOF
parallel manipulators with three kinematic chains. Link parameters
of each limb can be obtained by solving 4th degree polynomials.
Several desired link parameters can be specified because the
number of design variables is larger than the number of equations.
The proposed methods can also be utilized to develop 6-chain
parallel manipulators.
Index Termsparallel manipulator, 3-chain, isotropy,
synthesis, dexterity

1. INTRODUCTION
The 6-DOF Steward-Gough parallel manipulators have
been studied by many researchers and are employed in
various applications. These manipulators have high accuracy,
rigidity, capacity, and load-to-weight ratio, but their
workspaces are smaller than those of serial manipulators.
Therefore, workspace and dexterity are the two of the most
important design criteria in developing parallel manipulators.
A larger workspace can be expected, and link interactions
can be significantly reduced for parallel manipulators with
fewer limbs that are driven by two or more actuators [1-6].
Those manipulators, in general, provide high resolution for
fine position and force control because only a fraction of an
actuator joint rate/force is employed to generate the
twist/wrench of the mobile platform. However, high
resolution also indicates that a manipulator might be close to
inverse kinematic singularity where computation errors are
generally very large in kinetostatic analysis. An isotropic
design can avoid this drawback because it provides better
computation accuracy, and the manipulator can be controlled
the same in all possible directions at an isotropic
configuration.
This paper proposes methods for developing isotropic
designs with three kinematic chains. Special isotropic
generators whose six straight lines intersecting at three
different points are first proposed. An isotropic design can
be obtained if the six straight lines associated with the six

reciprocal screws of the three kinematic chains are

coincident with the six straight lines of an isotropic
generator. The joint axes of each chain can be determined by
solving the 4th degree polynomials developed from the screw
theory. Many practical designs with the desired link
parameters can be developed since the number of design
variables is larger than the number of equations. Some
numerical examples are presented for illustration.
2. ISOTROPIC GENERATORS
The development of 6-DOF isotropic manipulators has
been studied by many researchers [7-17]. The method of
obtaining six straight lines satisfying the isotropy conditions
is an easier approach to develop 6-DOF isotropic
manipulators. A reference point along with the six straight
lines satisfying the isotropy conditions is termed as an
isotropic generator [16]. The reference point is used as the
tool center point (denoted by TCP hereafter) in general
applications, and the six straight lines define the six revolute
axes of an isotropic serial manipulator. For parallel
manipulators with six kinematic chains, the jth straight line is
associated with the screw that is reciprocal to all the passive
screws on the jth chain. Since each chain of a 3-chain parallel
manipulator is driven by two actuators, we can find two
zero-pitch reciprocal screws associated with the two actuated
screws. The two related straight lines of the reciprocal
screws must intersect at the center point of the spherical joint.
Therefore, only some special isotropic generators with three
pairs of straight lines intersecting at three different points
can be used for developing isotropic manipulators. This
section proposes methods to obtain special isotropic
generators for developing isotropic manipulators with three
kinematic chains.
Figure 1a shows a pattern of six straight lines that has
been employed to develop 6-DOF manipulators with six
kinematic chains [18]. The four circles are in three
horizontal planes, and three points on each circle are 120o
apart. The reference point P = [0 0 Pz ]t with Pz denotes the
z-coordinate, and the coordinates of points A j and B j (for j =
1, 2,, 6) are functions of r1 , r2 , r3 , r4 , T 2 , T 3 , T 4 , h3 and h4 .
Let H be the matrix with

J.S. Dai, M. Zoppi and X. Kong (eds), ASME/IFToMM International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots

215

K.Y. Tsai and T.K. Lee

B j -A j

B j -A j

B -A
 A  P  u j j
j

B j -A j

Sj

axes on each chain, the D-H link parameters can be

determined using geometric methods or dual vectors [19].
(1)

as its jth column vector. Then an isotropic generator can be

obtained if the dexterity measure:

V o3 V p 3

V o1 V p1

(2)

yields the optimal value of unity [19], where

)

V V3
1 1

V p 3 , V p1 smallest and largest singular values, respectively

of the 3 u 6 submatrix Hp consisting of the first

three rows of H.
V o 3 , V o 3 smallest and largest singular values, respectively of
the 3 u 6 submatrix Ho consisting of the last three
rows of H.
V 3 , V 1 smallest and largest singular values, respectively of
 H
 t in which H
 and H
 are the two matrices
H
p

with orthonormal row vectors that span the same

row spaces of Hp and Ho respectively.
A Steward-Gough isotropic parallel manipulator can be
obtained by placing the TCP at point P, the two spherical
joints on limb i at A i and Bi , and connecting them with the
direction of each prismatic joint parallel to the related
straight line for i = 1, 2, , 6. Other isotropic designs can be
developed from the same generator by moving two spherical
joints to different positions on the associated straight line.
Special generators for developing 3-chain isotropic
manipulators can be obtained by letting r1 r2 = R and T 2 =
0, (or letting A j A j+3 for j = 1, 2, 3). The modified pattern
of straight lines is shown in Fig. 1b. With R = 10, some
optimization results for different positions of P are listed in
Table I.
3. KINEMATIC CHAINS
Actuated screws of different types of kinematic chains
that can be used for developing 3-chain or 6-chain isotropic
parallel manipulators are developed in this section. The
kinematic chains with fewer links can significantly reduce
the link interactions, so this study focuses on special chains
with same type of actuated screws intersecting at one point
(that is, link parameter a1 = 0). After obtaining the three joint

216

3.1. 3-chain manipulators

For 3-chain manipulators, the spherical joint of each chain
is placed at point Ai in Fig. 1b. Let L1c and Lc2 denote the two
straight lines through Ai, and Q1 and Q2 be two points on L1c
and Lc2 , respectively. Then the straight line connecting Q1
and Q2 can be used as the passive revolute joint axis on the
kinematic chain through Ai, and a passive prismatic joint can
be placed on any straight line that is perpendicular to both
L1c and Lc2 . This section employs screw theory to develop
two actuated screws.
The origin of the reference frame in Fig. 2 is at point Ai of
an isotropic generator, and x, y, z axes are parallel to x, y,
z axes of the coordinate frame in Fig. 1b. Let $1c and $c2
denote the two unit screws associated with L1c and Lc2 , and
$i represent the ith actuated screw. Then the virtual
coefficient between $i and $cj is defined as

Y ij

1
 pi  p cj  cos T  d sin T

(3)

where pi and p cj denote, respectively, the pitch of $i and

$cj , d is the distance from straight line Li (associated

with $i ) to Lcj , and T is the angle from Li to Lcj in the

direction of a right-hand screw moving along d . The first
two actuated screws can be determined by solving the
equations developed from conditions Y 12 = 0, Y 21 = 0, Y 11 =
N , and Y 22 N , where N is a nonzero constant.
Theoretically, many kinematic chains can be obtained from
the four equations.
For zero-pitch actuated screws (or revolute joints), the

Plucker
coordinates of the four associated unit screws can
be defined as
$1

where r

e1
r u e , $ 2
1

>x

e2
r u e , $1c
2

e1c
ec2
0 , $c2 = 0

(4)

y z @ is the position vector specifying the

t

intersecting point of the two actuated screws, unit vector

ei = > cD i s E i

sD i s Ei

c E i @ (defined by the first two angles

t

of Z-Y-Z Eulers angles), and e1c and ec2 are constant unit
vectors. The equations developed from the four related
conditions can be expressed as
ec2  r u e1  = 0

(5)

e1c  r u e1  N

(6)

e1c  r u e 2  = 0

(7)

Synthesis of 6-DOF 3-Chain Isotropic Parallel Manipulators

ec2  r u e 2  N

(8)

There are four equations in eight design parameters: x, y,

z, D1 , E1 , D 2 , E 2 , and N . The higher degree of resolution for
fine position and force control can be obtained for a
smaller N , but smaller N also indicates that a manipulator is
closer
to
inverse
kinematic
singularity.
With
eci

eixc

(11) when D1 is replaced by D 2 , E1 is replaced by E 2 , and

e1c and ec2 are interchanged.
For prismatic joints, the first two actuated screws can be
developed from:
ec2
e1c
e1c
ec2

eiyc

eizc , Eqs. (5) and (6) can be arranged as

E1cos E1  E 2 sinE1 0
G1cos E1  G 2 sinE1 N

(9)
(10)

cos E1

ye2c x  xe2c y

E2

ze2c y cosD1  ze2c x sinD1  xe2c z sinD1  ye2c z cosD1

G1

ye1cx  xe1cy

G2

ze1cy cosD1  ze1cx sinD1  xe1cz sinD1  ye1cz cosD1

(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)

The design variables are D1 , E1 , D 2 , E 2 , and N . Solving

Eqs. (12) and (13) yields

where
E1

e1 = 0
e1 N
e2 = 0
e2 N

sinE1

N  e2c x cosD1  e2c y sinD1 

N e2c z
(17)
e1cx e2c z cosD1  e1cy e2c z sinD1  e1cz e2c x cosD1  e1cz e2c y sinD1

The 4th degree polynomial in t

Solving the two equations for cos E1 and sinE1 , employing
cos 2 E1 + sin 2 E1 = 1 to obtain one equation in cosD1

2t
1 t2
cos
D
and
1
1 t2
1 t2
th
into the equation yield the following 4 degree polynomial
in t

tan

(11)

M1

can be developed

(18)

 ec

2x

 e2c z 2  N 2   e1cx e2c z  e1cz e2c x 

4e2c x e2c y N 2  2  2e1cz e2c y  2e1cy e2c z   e1cx e2c z  e1cz e2c x 

 2ec  4ec  2ec  N

  2ec ec  2ec ec 
2

2x

2y

2z

 2  e1cx e2c z  e1cz e2c x 

 y ec  z ec  x ec  y ec  2yzec ec  2 xyec ec  N
  zec ec  zec ec  yec ec  yec ec  xec ec  xec ec  y
 -4yzec ec  4 xzec ec  4 xyec  4z ec ec  N
 4  zec ec  zec ec  yec ec  yec ec  xec ec  xec ec  xy
2

2z

2y

2y

1y 2 x

1x 2 y

2 y 2z

1z 2 x

1x 2 z

2x 2z

2 y 2z

1z 2 y

2x

2x 2 y

M2

N2
N3

where

where
N1

M1t 4  M 2 t 3  M 3t 2  M 4 t  M 5 =0

D1

N1t 4  N 2 t 3  N 3t 2  N 4 t  N 5 = 0

tan

using cos 2 E1 + sin 2 E1 = 1:

and sinD1 , and substituting sinD1

D1

(16)

e1cx e2c z cosD1  e1cy e2c z sinD1  e1cz e2c x cosD1  e1cz e2c y sinD1

1z 2 y

2z

N4

1y 2 z

2x 2 y

N5

1y 2 z

4e2c x e2c y N 2  2  e1cz e2c x  e1cx e2c z   2e1cz e2c y  2e1cy e2c z 

 ec

2x

 e2c z 2  N 2   e1cz e2c x  e1cx e2c z 

1y 2 x

M3

1x 2 y

1z 2 x

1x 2 z

1z 2 y

1y 2 z

2 x 2 e2c y 2  2y 2 e2c x 2  4z 2 e2c x  4 xye2c x e2c y  2z 2 e2c y 2  4 x 2 e2c z 2  2y 2 e2c z 2 2

N
4yzec ec  8 xzec ec

2 y 2z
2x 2z

  ze1cy e2c x  ze1cx e2c y  ye1cz e2c x  ye1cx e2c z  xe1cz e2c y  xe1cy e2c z   2y 2  4 x 2 
2

M4
M5

4  ze1cy e2c x  ze1cx e2c y  ye1cz e2c x  ye1cx e2c z  xe1cz e2c y  xe1cy e2c z  xy
2

 y ec  z ec  x ec  y ec  2yzec ec  2 xyec ec  N
  zec ec  zec ec  yec ec  yec ec  xec ec  xec ec  y
2

2z

2y

2y

2x

2 y 2z

2x 2 y

1y 2 x

1x 2 y

1z 2 x

1x 2 z

1z 2 y

Parameters D 2 and E 2 can be obtained from Eqs. (16)-(18)

when D1 is replaced by D 2 , E1 is replaced by E 2 , and e1c
and ec2 are interchanged. The two actuated prismatic joints
can be placed on any two straight lines with the directions
specified by e1 and e2 . More constraint equations can be
provided to obtain manipulators with more desired link
parameters.

1y 2 z

After providing x, y, z and solving the polynomial for D1 ,

the associated E1 can be obtained by back substitutions.
Parameters D 2 and E 2 can also be determined from Eqs. (9)-

3.2. 6-Chain Manipulators

For 6-chain manipulators, a passive prismatic joint can be
placed on any straight line that is perpendicular to e1c (which
defines the direction of the straight line Lci through points Ai
and Bi in Fig. 1a.), and a passive revolute axis can be any
straight line through any point on Lci or any straight line that

217

K.Y. Tsai and T.K. Lee

is parallel to Lci . The actuated screw of the ith kinematic

chain can be developed from eci  r u e i  N (or Eq. (10)) for
revolute joints or eci ei N for prismatic joints. Therefore,
kinematic chains with desired link parameters can be
obtained because there are many free parameters to specify
passive joints. Same types of kinematic chains with the same
link parameters (including joint displacements) can be
directly used to develop isotropic manipulators. Let Lri
denote the straight line associated with the screw that passes
through the spherical joint and is reciprocal to the two
passive screws on the ith chain. Then an isotropic design can
be obtained if the spherical joint is placed at point Bi (or A i ,
or any point on Lci ) and Lri is coincident with Lci . Some
kinematic chains may be placed on the opposite sides of the
platform to avoid link interactions.
4. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES
The generator with Pz = 2 and R = 10 in Table I and Eqs.
(5)-(8) are employed to develop an isotropic design with
three RRR chains. For x = 2, y = 0, z = -10, and N = 1, two
sets of real solutions of D1 and E1 can be obtained from Eqs.
(5) and (6). The two solutions yield the same straight line
with e1 = [  0.8418,  0.4911, 0.2243]t. Likewise, the
second straight line e2 = [  0.5784,  0.1413, 0.8043]t can
be obtained from Eqs. (7) and (8). A straight line (on the
plane through the origin and spanned by e1c and ec2 ) through
the point x = 8.3809, y =  1.95, and z = -4 with direction
[0.866, 0.5, 0]t is used as the third passive revolute axis. The
link parameters developed from the three straight lines are
a1 = 0, d1 = 0, D1 42.5711o , T1 175.7651o , a2 = 1.1021,
d 2 = 7.1893, D 2

124.8603o , T 2

168.2675o , a3 =

0.8794, d3 = 2.3711, D 3 90o , T 3 119.9966o , and d 4 =

4. Equivalent chains with the same link parameters can be
used as the second and the third chains (by rotating the first
chain about the z-axis of the reference frame on the
generator by 120o and 240o , respectively). The obtained
isotropic design is shown in Fig. 3.
Additional constraint equations can be added to obtain
more desired link parameters. Equation e1 e 2 = 0 can be
used to obtain D1 90o . Next, D 2 0 can be obtained if e1
and e2 are on a plane that is parallel to the plane spanned by
e1c and ec2 . The associated equations are e1  e1c u ec2 
e 2  e1c u ec2 

0 and

0 . In this case, there are seven equations in

eight unknowns. Solving the nonlinear equations by a

numerical method gives one set of real solutions with x =
 34.1762, y =  25.5686, and z =  18.0219, e1 =
[  0.6412,  0.5580,  0.5267]t, e2 = [0.5667, 0.1184,
 0.8153]t . A straight line (on the plane through the origin
and spanned by e1c and ec2 ) through point x = 7.9482, y =
 3.7786, and z =  10.2193 with e3 = e2 is used as the

218

third passive revolute axis. Different sets of link parameters

can be developed from the three straight lines because the
last two axes are parallel. Figure 4 shows the design with a1
= 0, d1 = 0, D1

90o , T1

0 , a2 = 22.8495, d 2 = 0, D 2 = 0,

T2

90.0860 , a3 = 22.8495, d3 =  7.7028, D 3

T3

2.7129 .

0 , and

5. CONCLUSION
Methods for developing 3-chain or 6-chain isotropic
parallel manipulators with different types of kinematic
chains have been proposed in this work. The methods allow
us to specify the location of TCP, the size of the platform,
and kinematic chains with desired link parameters. In theory,
different types of kinematic chains (with the same types of
actuators) can be used on a manipulator, and the methods
can be extended to develop isotropic parallel manipulators
with different number of kinematic chains. Since many
isotropic designs can be developed by the proposed methods,
we can, in the future, search for isotropic manipulators with
better global isotropy or larger workspace.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Support from the National Science Council of the
Republic of China under grant NSC96-2212-E011-110 is
gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
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Synthesis of 6-DOF 3-Chain Isotropic Parallel Manipulators

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L1c  $1c 

Lc2  $c2 
y

Ai

Q1

Q2
r

$2

$1

Fig. 2. Joint axes and reciprocal screws

T4

B4
r4

B6

B5

T3

B1

h4

r3

B2

h3

B3

A2

A4
A5

r2

r1

T2
A1
A6

Fig. 3. An isotropic design with three RRR chains

A3

(a)
Z

T4

B4
r4

B6

B5
B2

T3

B1

h4

r3
h3

A 2 , A5

B3

A1 , A 4
R

A3 , A 6

Fig. 4. An isotropic design with special link parameters

(b)
Fig. 1. Parameters for developing isotropic generators

219

K.Y. Tsai and T.K. Lee

TABLE I
OPTIMIZATION RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT POSITION OF P

220

Pz

T3

T4

0.0

21.88

224.57

42.5504 23.3118 24.6185 21.2159

0.9998

0.5

210.11

24.73

45.9097 38.0191 49.9952 15.1804

0.9998

1.0

332.54

148.07

49.9999 16.6671 16.8745 26.9751

0.9995

1.5

25.95

202.78

43.8578 27.9205

9.8716

45.1226

0.9999

2.0

17.69

240.81

20.5173

3.3487

2.8461

14.9391

0.9999

2.5

353.73

12.82

6.1604

15.9098

5.2022

1.1620

0.9999

3.0

346.53

169.56

16.8680 12.8058

0.6771

31.5470

1.0000

3.5

129.01

180.00

13.9574 23.2477

0.0004

47.0194

1.0000

4.0

144.85

185.42

43.2438 11.0164

2.8944

29.4814

1.0000

4.5

209.84

146.84

2.7516

38.9761 16.9191

6.5235

1.0000

5.0

212.57

142.39

28.9559

3.8712

7.4711

17.2901

0.9999

5.5

125.23

196.90

5.9014

20.0902

4.4776

34.7866

0.9999

6.0

210.85

162.26

21.7240 17.0200

8.7461

32.1699

0.9994

6.5

163.92

195.09

15.3470 47.3543 24.6455 26.3733

1.0000

7.0

191.46

170.27

47.9693 40.6740 30.1953 45.9437

0.9994

7.5

13.85

357.86

4.0664

8.4430

5.7326

0.7975

0.9953

8.0

106.06

240.34

5.0145

3.1354

3.9755

13.7480

0.9900

8.5

140.84

320.54

5.6667

4.1743

16.1500

2.7406

0.9867

9.0

157.05

217.00

16.0881 43.0874 31.7905 12.9881

0.9831

9.5

218.20

88.53

42.6566

2.7775

13.9452 12.5434

0.9805

10.0

129.21

281.40

27.1466

2.3912

6.7206

0.9779

r3

r4

h3

h4

12.7975