USB It has largely replaced interfaces such as serial ports and parallel ports, and has become commonplace on a wide range of devices. USB connectors have been increasingly replacing other types for battery chargers of portable devices. This section is intended to allow fast identification of USB receptacles (sockets) on equipment. Further diagrams and discussion of plugs and receptacles can be found in USB (Physical) § Connectors. The Universal Serial Bus was developed to simplify and improve the interface between personal computers and peripheral devices, when compared with previously existing standard or ad-hoc proprietary interfaces. From the computer user's perspective, the
Parallel manipulator others, rather than being cumulative. Each actuator must still move within its own degree of freedom, as for a serial robot; however in the parallel robot the off-axis flexibility of a joint is also constrained by the effect of the other chains. It is this closed-loop stiffness that makes the overall parallel manipulator stiff relative to its components, unlike the serial chain that becomes progressively less rigid with more components. This mutual stiffening also permits simple construction: Stewart platform hexapods chains use prismatic joint linear actuators between any-axis universal ball joints. The ball joints are passive: simply free to move,