This thesis presents two unique micro-motion parallel kinematic manipulators (PKM):​ a three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) micro-motion manipulator and a 3-DOF micro-motion manipulator with actuation redundancy. The 3-DOF micro-motion manipulator has three linear-motion driving units, and the 3-DOF micro-motion manipulator with redundancy has four of these units.

For both designs, the linear motion driving units are identical, and both machines have a passive link in the center of the structure. The purpose of this passive link is to restrain the movement of the manipulator and to improve the stiffness of the structure. As a result, both structures support 3-DOF, including one translation on the Z-axis and two rotations around the X and Y axes. The manipulator with redundancy is designed to prevent singularity and to improve stiffness.

In this thesis, the inverse kinematic, Jacobian matrix and stiffness analyses have been conducted, followed by the design optimization for structures. Finally, the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and dynamic analysis have also been performed.

There are many practical applications for micro-motion parallel manipulators. The typical applications include micro-machine assembly, biological cell operation, and microsurgery .