Higher-order constraints for higher kinematic pairs and their application to mobility and shakiness analysis of mechanisms

Abstract

The mobility analysis of mechanisms rests on an adequate formulation of the constraints defining its configuration space (c-space). Whereas there is no general method for a global analysis, the higher-order mobility analysis, which locally approximates the c-space, is applicable to general mechanisms. It requires an efficient method for the evaluation of higher-order constraints, i.e. constraints on velocity, acceleration, jerk, etc. Such a method is known for linkages comprising lower pair joints only. In this paper a method for the efficient evaluation of higher-order constraints for mechanisms comprising higher pair joints is proposed. The method builds on the results for the lower pair linkages. It leads to a computationally simply recursive algorithm. This is applied to the mobility analysis that allows to determine the local finite mobility, to detect singularities, and to identify shaky mechanisms.