Closed-Form Direct Position Analysis of a 5–5 Parallel Mechanism

Abstract

The paper presents the closed form direct displacement analysis for a class of Stewart platform-type parallel mechanisms whose general feature consists of six legs which meet five distinct points both in the base and in the movable output link. Out of the two possible arrangements, only one is here analyzed in detail. Given a set of actuator displacements the analysis provides all the possible locations of the platform relative to the base. The analysis results in a 40th degree polynomial equation in one unknown. The roots of the equation provide in the complex field forty closures of the mechanism. This new result has been numerically verified by the inverse displacement analysis.