Miniature Compliant Spatial Parallel Manipulators

An innovative solution for the design of solid-state, spatial, scaleable high-performance active mechanisms is proposed. When developed, this device class will find use in various military, commercial and medical applications to provide mobile controlsurfaces for manipulating, pointing and tracking tasks. The first target application is a high resolution (<10 nm linear motion), automated alignment solution for reducing the cost of optical components assembly. To be innovative and viable, this deviceclass must demonstrate characteristics such as the ability to provide sufficient control authority, to withstand high dynamic loads, and to provide sufficient rigidity while offering the necessary mobility to accomplish a specified task. DSM proposed toachieve this through the development of a compliant, three-dimensional parallel manipulator to serve as a scaleable pointing system or platform manipulator. This effort combines innovative technology developments in the area of compliant mechanismresearch as well as parallel manipulator research supported by flexure-based, solid-state pivots or other zero-play joints. This manipulator technology will be, at a minimum, capable of rotational motion about two axes and translational motion about athird axis. This effort will create the optimal synthesis and design tools for establishing families of compliant manipulators that combine the characteristics of parallel manipulators with the low cost, scaleable capabilities resulting from a compliantstructure design. Candidate applications of scaleable, compliant, spatial manipulators include alignment solutions for optical components assembly, miniature tracking and pointing systems for mirrors and solar arrays, view stabilization and lens focusingfor surveillance cameras, remote inspection, microsurgical augmentation and teleoperation, and microdispense applications (adhesives, combinatorial chemical analysis and screening assays, etc.)