Requirements on the Spatial Distribution of Elastic Components Used in Compliance Realization

In this letter, necessary conditions on the locations and orientations of elastic components in a compliant mechanism used to realize any given spatial compliance are identified. The topologies considered are either fully parallel or fully serial mechanisms having an arbitrary number of lumped elastic components. It is shown that the requirements on elastic components are characterized by a sphere for the location distribution and by three cones for the orientation distribution. The easy to assess conditions on the set of components can he used to achieve a more desirable mechanism geometry when used in conjunction with existing spatial compliance synthesis procedures.

Automated summary

This study identifies the necessary conditions on the locations and orientations of elastic components in a compliant mechanism to achieve any desired spatial compliance. The study shows that the requirements for elastic components are characterized by a sphere for their location distribution and by three cones for their orientation distribution. The easy assessment of these conditions on the set of components can be used to achieve a more desirable mechanism geometry when combined with existing spatial compliance synthesis procedures.