The parallel kinematic machine tool has many advantages including excellent loading capacity, high structural stiffness and small accumulated error of linkage. It has become one of the most important research fields for machine tools. In the present research, a principle for the optimization of the dimensional design parameters of a parallel kinematic machine tool is proposed. A five-degree-of-freedom (5DOF) parallel kinematic machine tool with a TRR-XY hybrid mechanism is chosen for investigating the design procedures and the optimization results. The inverse kinematics of the hybrid mechanism is first investigated. Then, the inverse solution is used to analyse and create the workspaces of the machine tool. The design parameters of the mechanical components are further optimized for constructing the maximum workspace.

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