Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2020
A general serial–parallel manipulator connected in series by two different parallel manipulators with linear active legs is constructed. Its precise stiffness and elastic deformations are studied systematically. Its unified precise stiffness and precise elastic deformation models are established by considering both the moving links inertial wrench and the dynamic active/constrained wrench. A 3SPR+3RPS-type serial–parallel manipulator is illustrated for solving its precise stiffness and precise elastic deformation. The derived formulae of the precise stiffness and the precise elastic deformations of the general serial–parallel manipulator are verified by the theoretical solutions of the 3SPR+3RPS serial–parallel manipulator.