Kinematically redundant (6+2)-dof HEXA robot for singularity avoidance and workspace augmentation

This paper introduces a novel (6+2)-degree-of-freedom (dof) kinematically redundant parallel robot. The proposed architecture is based on the 6-dof HEXA parallel robot. The paper applies methodologies for avoiding type II singularities using kinematic redundancy that were originally proposed for robots with prismatic actuators to a new architecture with revolute actuators. The singularities of the HEXA robot are first examined based on previous work, and new instances of singularities are discovered. The singularity locus in the orientational workspace is identified using the Power Inspired Measure. Then, a novel kinematically redundant leg architecture is proposed to allow for the avoidance of these type II singularities. It is shown that the singularities present within the orientational workspace can successfully be avoided if two kinematically redundant legs are included in the robot architecture. The performance of the new architecture is then examined in various trajectories within the orientational workspace. Results show that the attainable orientational workspace is significantly increased with the proposed architecture.