Parallel kinematic machines (PKMs) have shown to offer many advantages such as high positioning accuracy, high static/dynamic inherent rigidity, low inertia, high nominal load-to-weight ratio and good dynamic performance. However, the principal drawbacks of the PKMs are small and complex work-space, commonly coupled position and orientation of moving platform as well as difficult forward position kinematics. The industrial FUM-3PSP is a spatial type of 3PSP parallel manipulator, which solves these drawbacks by utilizing a new geometrical approach.

FUM-3PSP is fully parallel with three DOFs in space. The robot is composed of a moving platform which is shaped like a symmetric tripetalous star, called moving star (MS), and two fixed platforms. The MS is formed by three branches, forming a planar star with each branch making an angle of g¼1201 with the other. Various tools and end-effectors maybe placed in the center of the MS. The MS and the fixed platforms are connected together using three parallel legs with identical serial kinematic chains. Each of the three legs consists of an active prismatic joint (P-joint) which is actuated by a Linear rod (LR), a passive spherical joint (S-joint) and a passive prismatic joint (P-joint). The MS is attached to the base by three identical serial PSP linkages. The three closed kinematics loops make the FUM-3PSP a parallel manipulator. The actuation system for each leg is made of a motor, a gearbox and a ball screw assembly.

FUM-3PSP offers the advantage of allowing the user to select its desired DOFs. The user may select to run the robot either in non-pure translational or coupled mixed-type modes. This feature potentially allows use of different applications for the FUM-3PSP robot such as orientating tools and solar panels.