Computer-Aided Kinematic Analysis of Planar Mechanisms Based on Symbolic Pattern Matching of Independent Kinematic Loops

Abstract

Based on a problem decomposition strategy and a symbolic kinematic loop pattern matching technique, a new method for planar mechanism kinematic analysis has been uncovered. Since this approach directly applies an analytical, closed form solution methodology to the planar mechanism kinematics problem, a number of significant advantages over other solution methods have been observed. Firstly, when applicable, this new approach requires significantly less cpu time as compared with traditional numerical methods, making timely mechanism animation feasible. Secondly, the new approach eliminates the effect of computer truncation error, thereby eliminating numerical approximation errors. Finally, it can be used to search for initial positions of planar mechanism with specified dimensions, thereby enabling automatic mechanism sketching.