Seven-Position Synthesis of a Spatial Eight-Bar Linkage by Constraining a TRS Serial Chain

In this paper, we use seven-position synthesis to add four TS constraints to a TRS serial chain robot and obtain a two degree-of-freedom spatial eight-bar linkage. The TRS chain is an elbow manipulator, similar to a PUMA robot. We synthesize a TS dyad to connect the base of the robot to its forearm, and then we synthesize three TS dyads that connect the upper arm of the robot to its end-effector. The result is a two degree-of-freedom spatial eight-bar linkage that moves through seven prescribed positions. It consists of a TRST loop supporting a 3TS-RS platform, which we denote as a TS-TRS-3TS spatial linkage. We formulate and solve the design equations for the TS dyads, and analyze the resulting eight-bar linkage. An example demonstrates our results.