Synthesis of a novel planar linkage to visit up to eight poses

Abstract

This article introduces a novel planar linkage which results from combining a Wanzer linkage with a four-bar linkage. It has one degree of freedom and is able to visit exactly up to eight poses. The proposed design approach yields linkages without branch and order defects, which can move continuously between all the desired poses without disassembly. Three illustrative examples show the applicability and the validity of the proposed synthesis process.