This paper presents an innovative 5 DOF robot that generates 3T1R motion (3 translations + 1 rotation) plus a linear grasping motion. To generate this type of grasping motion, a robot needs two end-effectors. Grasping motions are usually generated by adding a grasping device at the top of an already existing robot or by coordinating two distinct robots. We propose in this paper a new robot architecture which includes the grasping degree of freedom as a part of the mechanism itself. The two end-effectors of the mechanism are mounted on an articulated platform and can move together in a 3T1R motion and their distance to each other can be controlled to generate the grasping capability. The 5 actuators are located on the base and are connected with five identical legs to the two end-effectors using only mechanical links, forming a fully parallel robot with 5 DOF. The architecture of the robot will be presented in detail. Then, we will describe the kinematics needed for the control of the robot. Finally, geometric optimization results will be presented and discussed.
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