Computational Identification of Link Adjacency and Joint Incidence in Kinematic Chains and Mechanisms

Abstract

The identification of link adjacency and joint incidence of kinematic chains and mechanisms is important and essential prior to the task of conceptual mechanism design. A careful observation method can be done in general; however, a computational approach is particularly needed for the design automation and algorithmic enumeration. This paper proposes a systematic approach for this goal in which a pseudogenetic concept is employed. The graph identification is then generalized from which the identifications of kinematic chains and mechanisms are automatically mapped. The illustrative examples show that the computation is simple and easily programmable. This development is helpful for the automated structural synthesis of mechanisms.