An Energy Approach to a 2DOF Compliant Parallel Mechanism With Self-Guiding Statically-Balanced Straight-Line Behavior Available to Purchase

This paper presents a novel straight-line self-guiding statically-balanced mechanism which reflects on the advantages of lumped compliant mechanisms. The forthcoming structural design is conceived with an energy approach for static balancing of mechanisms. In this paper the application and effectiveness of the energy approach as a synthesis tool is validated. Moreover the paper demonstrates the translation from pseudo-rigid body model to lumped compliance in statically-balanced mechanisms. A physical prototype and a finite-element model served to evaluate the conceptual design. Manufacturing techniques are suggested for rapid, light-weight and cost-efficient prototyping. The presented self-guiding mechanism is statically-balanced along its straight-line range of motion while showing stable behavior in other directions.