Singularity condition of six-degree-of-freedom three-legged parallel robots based on Grassmann-Cayley algebra

This paper addresses the singularity condition of a broad class of six-degree-of-freedom three-legged parallel robots that have one spherical joint somewhere along each leg. First, the actuator screws for each leg-chain are determined. Then Grassmann-Cayley algebra and the associated superbracket decomposition are used to find the condition for which the Jacobian (or rigidity matrix) containing these screws is rank-deficient. These tools are advantageous since they facilitate manipulation of coordinate-free expressions representing geometric entities, thus enabling the geometrical interpretation of the singularity condition to be obtained more easily. Using these tools, the singularity condition of (at least) 144 combinations of this class is delineated to be the intersection of four planes at one point. These four planes are defined by the locations of the spherical joints and the directions of the zero-pitch screws.