Finite-State-Machine Representations for Mechanisms and Chains With Variable Topologies

Abstract

Abstract This paper provides a novel representation for the topological structures of mechanisms and chains with variable topologies. The concept is finite state machines. Graphs are traditional representations of mechanism topologies and have the advantages of easily observing. Finite state machine is proposed for expressing the changes of input links and operating stages. The double-dwell slider-crank mechanism is applied as an example to illustrate the proposed representations. These representations are useful for analyzing the characteristics of topology structures of mechanisms and chains with variable topologies. And, the result of this work can be extended for synthesizing mechanisms and chains with variable topologies.