Design and Experimental Investigation of a New 2R1T Overconstrained Parallel Kinematic Machine With Actuation Redundancy

Two rotations and one translation (2R1T) parallel kinematic machines (PKMs) are suitable for the machining of complex curved surfaces, which requires high speed and precision. To further improve rigidity, precision, and avoid singularity, actuation redundancy, and over-constrained PKMs with fixed actuators and limited-degrees of freedom (DOF) limbs are preferred. However, there are few 2R1T PKMs with these features. This paper introduces a new 2R1T overconstrained PKM with actuation redundancy, which is called Tex4. The Tex4 PKM consists of four limited-DOF limbs; that is, two PUR limbs and two 2PRU limbs (where P denotes an actuated prismatic joint, U denotes a universal joint, and R denotes a revolute joint). The kinematic model of the proposed 2PUR-2PRU machine is presented along with the results of mobility, inverse kinematics, and velocity analysis. By considering the motion/force transmissibility, the dimensional parameters of the Tex4 PKM were optimized to obtain an improved satisfactory transmission workspace without singular configurations. Finally, a prototype based on the optimized parameters was fabricated, and its feasibility and accuracy were validated by motion and position error experiments. The Tex4 PKM has the advantages of high rigidity, simple kinematic model, and zero singularity in the workspace, which suggests that it has potential for use in the high-speed machining of curved surfaces.