Kinematic and static analysis of a 3-PUPS spatial tensegrity mechanism

The development of tensegrity mechanisms is motivated by their reduced inertia which is made possible by an extensive use of cables and springs. In this paper, a new spatial tensegrity mechanism is introduced. The direct and inverse static problems of the mechanism are solved by minimizing its potential energy. For a simplified case where external and gravitational loads are neglected, analytical solutions to these problems are found and are then used to compute the boundaries of the mechanism’s actuator and Cartesian workspaces.