Flexible Guidance: Design Principles

This lecture covers the principles of flexible guidance systems, focusing on parallel kinematics, high stiffness, fixed actuators and sensors, limited workspace, kinematic singularities, and the use of flexure-based mechanisms to overcome drawbacks. It also discusses the location of mechanical end-stops, protection against overloads, hexapods (Stewart Platform), systematic design of orthogonal kinematic structures, X-Y driving plates, fast manipulators, and various robot structures. The lecture concludes with prospects for optimization, new materials, production technologies, design methods, and emerging application fields, emphasizing the increasing importance of Flexure-Mechanisms in modern technology.