Handling with inequality constraints in a general method of optimal kinematic synthesis

Abstract

The ability of any optimization method to handle inequality constraints is essential for its application to real design problems. This paper presents two alternatives for dealing with this type of constraints within a method developed by the authors. Both alternatives use slack variables technique. In the first one, these variables are considered as dependent ones in the optimization process, whereas in the second are considered as design parameters (independent variables). The second alternative is valid only when the constraint affects a geometrical constant parameter while the former is also valid when the constraint affects a parameter that depends on the mechanism position. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013.