Singularities of Single-DOF Spherical Mechanisms Identified by Means of Pole Axes’ Properties

Instantaneous pole axes (IPAs) play, in spherical-mechanism kinematics, the same role as instant centers in planar-mechanism kinematics. IPA-based techniques have not been proposed yet for the singularity analysis of spherical mechanisms, even though instant-center-based algorithms have been already presented for planar mechanisms’ singularity analysis. This paper addresses the singularity analysis of single-dof spherical mechanisms by exploiting the properties of pole axes. A general method for implementing this analysis is presented. The presented method relies on the possibility of giving geometric conditions for any type of singularity, and it is the spherical counterpart of an instant-center-based algorithm previously proposed by the author for single-dof planar mechanisms. It can be used to generate systems of equations useful either for finding the singularities of a given mechanism or to synthesize mechanisms that have to match specific requirements about the singularities.