Concept Design of a New XY Compliant Parallel Manipulator with Spatial Configuration

This paper proposes the concept design of a novel XY compliant parallel manipulator (CPM) with spatial configu- ration, which is beneficial to promote the performance of the XY CPM. Evolved from a planar configuration, a spatial compliant parallelogram flexure is devised as the basic module structure. Then, a mirror-symmetric XY CPM adopting spatial layout is proposed based on four-prismatic-prismatic (4-PP) parallel mechanism. The prototypes are fabricated by 3D printing for testing. The performance analysis and verification is conducted through theoretical modeling, finite element simulation, and experimental study. For comparison study, a planar XY CPM with similar mechanism is also developed. Results show that the proposed XY CPM with spatial configuration provides the benefits of smaller plane footprint, large working stroke, and enhanced load-bearing capacity as compared to the planar one. It is appropriate for precise positioning scenarios, like soft- contact lithography, which require high loading capacity and great compactness.