As always, it's just about drawings.
The parametric equation of a circle has 3 variables and two equations. In 3-dimensional space, a circle is a spiral, but we only need one projection of this spiral into 2-dimensional space, and we also know how  the rest 2 it's projections on flat space look.
If we look at the equation of the sphere in parametric form, we will see that these are 3 equations and 5 variables:
x1 = sin(x4)*cos(x5); 
x2 = sin(x4)*sin(x5); 
x3 = cos(x4);
And so I wanted to see how the remaining 9 projections of the sphere onto 3-dimensional space look. It is very easy to do this with Maple.
SPHERE.mw

 Pictures on the theme of Klein bottle.  Wikipedia article
KL_B_1.mw

KL_B_2.mw

A manipulator, in which 3 degrees of freedom are provided by changing the length of the links and one degree of freedom, is provided by turning. Only 4 degrees of freedom. Solved using Draghilev's method. In one case, the length of the manipulator link could be expressed through the value of the 3rd coordinate. The lengths of the other two links are considered generalized coordinates. In this case, it is still obtained polynomial equations, as for the usual coordinates.
I was asked to make an example of the movement of such a manipulator using Maple. (Automatically, this is an example of solving an inverse kinematics problem.)
four_degrees_of_freedom_from_Sabina.mw

As a continuation of the posts:
https://www.mapleprimes.com/posts/208958-Determination-Of-The-Angles-Of-The-Manipulator
https://www.mapleprimes.com/posts/209255-The-Use-Of-Manipulators-As-Multiaxis
https://www.mapleprimes.com/posts/210003-Manipulator-With-Variable-Length-Of
But this time without Draghilev's method.
Motion along straight lines can replace motion along any spatial path (with any practical precision), which means that solving the inverse problem of the manipulator's kinematics can be reduced to solving the movement along a sequential set of segments. Thus, another general method for solving the manipulator inverse problem is proposed.
An example of a three-link manipulator with 5 degrees of freedom. Its last link, like the first link, geometrically corresponds to the radius of the sphere. We calculate the coordinates of the ends of its links when passing a straight line segment. We do this in a loop for interior points of the segment using the procedure for finding real roots of polynomial systems of equations RootFinding [Isolate]. First, we “remove” two “extra” degrees of freedom by adding two equations to the system. There can be an infinite set of options for additional equations - if only they correspond to the technical capabilities of the device. In this case, two maximally easy conditions were taken: one equation corresponds to the perpendicularity of the last (third) link directly to the segment of the trajectory itself, and the second equation corresponds to the perpendicularity to the vector with coordinates <1,1,1>. As a result, we got four ways to move the manipulator for the same segment. All of these ways are selected as one of the RootFinding [Isolate] solutions (in text  jj=1,2,3,4).
In this text jj=4
without_Draghilev_method.mw       

As you can see, everything is very simple, there is practically no programming and is performed exclusively by Maple procedures.

 

One forum had a topic related to such a platform. ( Edited: the video is no longer available.)

The manufacturer calls the three-degrees platform, that is, having three degrees of freedom. Three cranks rotate, and the platform is connected to them by connecting rods through ball joints. The movable beam (rocker arm) has torsion springs.  I counted 4 degrees of freedom, because when all three cranks are locked, the platform remains mobile, which is camouflaged by the springs of the rocker arm. Actually, the topic on the forum arose due to problems with the work of this platform. Neither the designers nor those who operate the platform take into account this additional fourth, so-called parasitic degree of freedom. Obviously, if we will to move the rocker with the locked  cranks , the platform will move.
Based on this parasitic movement and a similar platform design, a very simple device is proposed that has one degree of freedom and is, in fact, a spatial linkage mechanism. We remove 3 cranks, keep the connecting rods, convert the rocker arm into a crank and get such movements that will not be worse (will not yield) to the movements of the platform with 6 degrees of freedom. And by changing the length of the crank, the plane of its rotation, etc., we can create simple structures with the required design trajectories of movement and one degree of freedom.
Two examples (two pictures for each example). The crank rotates in the vertical plane (side view and top view)
PLAT_1.mw


and the crank rotates in the horizontal plane (side view and top view).

The program consists of three parts. 1 choice of starting position, 2 calculation of the trajectory, 3 design of the picture.  Similar to the programm  in this topic.