T2: A novel two Degree-of-Freedom translational parallel robot for pick-and-place operation

This paper deals with the conceptual design and kinematic analysis of a novel 2-DOF translational parallel robot for pick-and-place operations named as T2. The proposed architecture is composed of two actuated kinematic chains in the vertical plane and a passive chains in the transversal plane to make the orientation of the moving platform unchangeable. It not only has high speed and high acceleration, but also has a simple and symmetrical mechanism, and will be easier to control and cheaper than the existing 2-DOF robot. In this paper, the loop-closure equations of the robot is derived. the inverse kinematics, forward kinematics, singularity, and workspace analysis are presented.