Evolving four-bars for optimal synthesis

Abstract

We present an evolution-based method for optimal mechanism synthesis. It is based on the embedding of the Euclidean motion group in the space of affine displacements upon which an object-oriented Euclidean metric is imposed. This Euclidean structure allows the use of curve and surface evolution techniques from computer aided design and image processing. We demonstrate the algorithm by synthesizing planar four-bar mechanisms and we show how to modify it so that the resulting four-bar is free of circuit defects. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.