Designing and analyzing compact micro rotation stages are key issues in precision engineering. The serial connection of a compliant motion-scaling mechanism to a rotary microdriving component enhances the actual rotation resolution. However, the existing compliant rotation-reduction mechanism (CRRM) requires the rotation centers of multiple flexure hinges within the mechanism to remain consistently aligned in a straight line, which adversely affects miniaturized applications. In this study, a novel CRRM that does not require the consistent collineation of multiple rotation centers was designed, analyzed, and tested. Based on the deflection principles of cantilevers, a conceptual design was first outlined. Small-deflection-based models for the output and input rotations of the CRRM and its rotation gain were established, and the conditions for rotation reduction were derived. Geometrically nonlinear models of the CRRM were developed using the beam constraint model. Subsequently, a nonlinear parametric optimization was performed by considering a dynamic constraint. Finally, the proposed CRRM, its static and dynamic models, and its optimization were validated via finite-element analysis and experiments.
Xu et al. (2026) studied this question.