Design and Performance of a Spatial 6-RRRR Compliant Parallel Nanopositioning Stage

Piezoelectric actuators (PEAs) and compliant parallel mechanisms (CPMs) are advantageous for designing nanopositioning stages (NPSs) with multiple degrees of freedom (multi-DOFs). This paper proposes a new NPS that uses PEAs and CPMs with multiple spatial DOFs. First, the design of the mechanism is introduced. Six parallel kinematics revolute-revolute-revolute-revolute (RRRR) branched chains were used to create a 6-RRRR CPM for superior mechanical performance. Three in-plane and three out-of-plane chains were combined using a two-in-one structure to ensure fabrication feasibility. A two-in-one 6-RRRR CPM was employed to build the proposed NPS. Second, the mechanical performance was analyzed. High-efficiency finite-element modeling approaches were derived using the compliance-based matrix method (CMM) and a pseudo-rigid body model (PRBM). The model included both 6-RRRR CPM and NPS. The simulation results validated the static and dynamic performance, and the experimental results verified the kinematics. Based on the newly designed mechanism and verified mechanical performance, the proposed 6-RRRR NPS contributes to the development of spatial multi-DOF NPSs using PEAs and CPMs.