Higher Dimension Modules Incurred Mechanism Structure Variation

Abstract

This paper investigates spatial reconfigurable module and its metamorphosis which occurs from the reconfiguration of displacement units. The inherent decomposition for displacement units reveals the inherent reconfiguration principles for spatial topology extension. The type and structure of reconfiguration units dominate the potential reconfiguration ability and the available reconfiguration patterns. The reconfigurability analysis can be supported by group theory. The group is a non-empty set invested with a closed product operation and satisfies defined conditions, which are the associativity and the existence of identity element and of an inverse for any element. The set of rigid body motions or displacements denoted by {D} is endowed with 6D Lie group transformations, which acts a fundamental tool in the analysis of general properties of mechanisms. Based on unit construction principle and algebraic structure of the Lie group, self-rearrangement characteristics of spatial reconfiguration structure can be accounted as displacement set self-adaptation.