I.3 - Position Analysis

Abstract

The position analysis of a kinematic chain requires the determination of the joint positions and/or the position of the center of gravity of the link. This chapter presents a planar link with the end nodes A and B. The (xA, yB) are the coordinates of joint A with respect to the reference frame xOy, and (xB, yB) and are the coordinates of joint B with the same reference frame. The independent closed loops are identified first in vector loop method, and a vector equation corresponding to each independent loop is established. The vector equation gives rise to two scalar equations, one for the horizontal axis x and the other for the vertical axis y. A vector loop equation can be considered for an open kinematic chain with general joints. This chapter concludes with the discussion of the planar R-RTR-RRT mechanism.