LAUSR

Summary In this work a simple method to solve the kinematics of the 5-R$\underbar{P}$UR parallel manipulator is introduced. Dealing with the displacement analysis, the kinematic constraint equations required to address the forward–inverse displacement analysis are established according to linear combinations of two vectors attached to the moving platform. Then, besides the solution of the inverse displacement analysis two strategies are proposed in order to solve the forward position analysis. Finally, the input–output equations of velocity and acceleration are systematically obtained by resorting to reciprocal-screw theory. Numerical examples are provided with the purpose to illustrate the proposed method. Furthermore, the numerical results obtained by means of screw theory are confirmed with the aid of commercially available software.