Caving, TaeKwonDo, Backpacking, Rollerblading, Electronics, Robotics. Parallel Manipulators are well suited to applications that require moving a large or heavy payload, and they also excel in the areas of stiffness, speed, and accuracy. One of the major factors limiting their acceptance is that PPM's have a limited workspace.
Singular configurations exist where the parallel manipulator completely loses stiffness.
Positions near these singular configurations also pose problems in control of the robot, and further limit the useful workspace. By adding redundancy to the manipulator it is possible to eliminate singular configurations and increase the workspace of the robot. Click here for my personal Photos page. Click here for some Lab Photos page.