Workspaces of Parallel Mechanisms and Methods of Determining Their Shape and Size

Parallel mechanisms are widely used in modern robotics due to their unique properties. The important part of synthesis of these mechanisms is determining the size of the workspace as it is affected by singularity areas, in which the mechanism can become uncontrollable and immobile. There are several approaches to determining workspaces of parallel mechanisms of different types. Most of them are based on theoretical research and do not consider the parameters of real manipulators. This article presents a summary of known facts about workspaces, their types, and methods of determining their shape and size as well as ways of improving these methods for applied use in the synthesis of real robotic mechanisms. A supplementary classification of workspaces is proposed and illustrated by examples of various planar and spatial mechanisms. The results obtained allow estimating operational suitability of the mechanism for practical needs as early as at the synthesis stage.

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