Abstract:A novel weakly-coupled spatial parallel manipulator with three degrees-of-freedom (DOFs), containing two-translational and one-rotational (2T1R) DOFs, was addressed. The manipulator consisted of a moving platform and a fixed base connected by two limbs, in which one limb contained a planar five-bar closed loop, and another included a planar parallelogram. Three actuated joints of the manipulator were all mounted on the base. Analytic solutions of position for both direct and inverse kinematics were derived. The mapping relationship between the actuated joints velocity vector space and moving platform velocity vector space has been established. Simulation curves of the inverse solutions of position and velocity were described. The conditions of each kind of singularity configurations of the manipulator, according to the classification of singularity, were discussed in detail, and a theoretic basis for path planning and control of the mechanism was provided. The manipulator proposed here, has widely potential application in the fields of parallel machine tools, simulators and massage robots.