In this paper, an analytical approach for the optimal design of a type of spherical parallel manipulator with symmetric geometry is investigated. Both the condition number and the behaviour of the direct Jacobian matrix associated with the initial configuration are optimized, resulting in a set of closed-form parametric relationships that enables a global optimal performance index to be achieved in the overall workspace. It has been concluded that the global optimal solution is located on the loci of local optimal solutions. The outcome confirms analytically the optimality of the orthogonal spherical parallel manipulator achieved using the numerical approach.
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