Design and analysis of a hexapod with upur structure

In this study, a hexapod with universal- prismatic- universal- revolute (UPUR) structure is designed and analyzed. Parallel manipulators have high stiffness and accuracy, and they are used in medical, aviation and astronomy. Universal joints, parallel motion actuators (linear actuators) and revolute joints (rolling element bearings) are available in the market with competitive prices and thus, hexapods with UPUR structure can be produced with low costs.SolidWorks is used for modeling and assembly, CosmosMotion is used for rigid body dynamics and ANSYS is used for the finite element rigidity analysis. A program developed in MATLAB is also used for the rigid body dynamics analysis. A control system is developed for the system having linear actuators with step motors. PC-based motion control is used.It is observed that MATLAB results are in agreement with CosmosMotion results. The natural frequencies and the static deflections of the system are given for various positions. Hexapod motions are analyzed considering kinematic, kinetic and rigidity limits.Keywords: Hexapod, simulation, parallel manipulators, CosmosMotion, ANSYS, SolidWorks.