Kinematic design of a non-parasitic 2R1T parallel mechanism with remote center of motion to be used in minimally invasive surgery applications

In minimally invasive surgery applications, the use of robotic manipulators is becoming more and more common to enhance the precision of the operations and post-operative processes. Such operations are often performed through an incision port (a pivot point) on the patient's body. Since the end-effector (the handled surgical tool) move about the pivot point, the manipulator has to move about a remote center of motion. In this study, a 3-degrees-of-freedom parallel mechanism with 2R1T (R: rotation, T: translation) remote center of motion capability is presented for minimally invasive surgery applications. First, its kinematic structure is introduced. Then, its kinematic analysis is carried out by using a simplified kinematic model which consists of three intersecting planes. Then the dimensional design is done for the desired workspace and a simulation test is carried out to verify the kinematic formulations. Finally, the prototype of the final design is presented.