Analysis and Design of 3-DOF Parallel Mechanism Based on Kinematic Couplings

Abstract

This paper presents a high-speed automatic micro-alignment system that is a part of an inspection machine for small-sized molded lenses of mobile phones, palm-top computers, and so on. This work was motivated by the shortcomings of existing highest-grade commercial machine. A simple tip/tilt/Z parallel mechanism is designed based on kinematic couplings, which is a 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) moderate-cost alignment stage. It is used to automatically adjust the posture of each lens on the tray, which is impossible by the conventional instrument. Amplified piezoelectric actuators are used to ensure the accuracy and dynamic response. Forward kinematic analysis and simulation show that the parasitic motion is small enough compared to the actuator stroke. From the workspace analysis of the moving platform, it is clear that the output motion range satisfies the design requirements.