A new method to study the degree of freedom of spatial parallel mechanisms

Abstract

The traditional formulae for degree of freedom are not valid in solving the platform for certain complex spatial parallel mechanisms. Therefore, by uniformly depicting the kinematic and geometric constraints of a mechanism with a screw theory, we put forward a new method to study the degree of freedom for the platform of spatial parallel mechanisms. This method should solve the analysis and calculation problems of the degree of freedom in many complex spatial parallel mechanisms, which may not always be solved correctly with traditional formulae.