Workspace generation and planning singularity-free path for parallel manipulators

This paper presents a numerical technique for path planning inside the reachable workspace of parallel manipulators avoiding singularity. A generic numerical algorithm for generating the reachable workspace of parallel manipulators is described. The singularity points are determined, grouped into several clusters and modelled as obstacles. A path planning algorithm is used to find an optimal path avoiding these obstacles. Isolated singularities are avoided using local routing method based on Grassmann’s line geometry. Examples are demonstrated for the effectiveness of the algorithms.