Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory

Extended Kinematic Model for the 3-PRS Manipulator

Originally proposed in 2000 to be used as a telescope image correction device, the 3-PRS manipulator has has been studied since for a variety of high precision tasks. To date all these theoretical studies have made a number of assumptions regarding the geometry of the manipulators. These assumptions make the kinematic equations manageable allowing for dexterity and other mobility studies.

In this project, the kinematic model for the 3-PRS manipulator is extended to include variables normally not included within the kinematic model. That is, as a result of a thorough kinematic calibration, most of the aforementioned assumptions no longer hold. Therefore, the detailed dimensions and orientations of all the links and joints needs to be considered.

As opposed to only using 6 to 7 kinematic parameters, the kinematic model presented here will include a number of parameters in the order of 20 where the dimensions of each link as well as the location and orientation of each joint is considered.