Title: A restatement of the optimum synthesis of function generators with planar four-bar and slider-crank mechanisms examples

Authors: P.A. Simionescu

Addresses: School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Unit 5733, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA

Abstract: The problem of optimum synthesising of a mechanism to best approximate a function, while simultaneously ensuring good motion transmission characteristics is discussed. Distinction is made between the design variables that determine the shape of the input-output (I/O) function of the mechanism, and the design variables that affect the degree of overlap between this I/O function and the function to be mechanised, through scaling, mirroring and rotations in 90º increments. Examples are given of designing the planar four-bar and slider-crank linkages of a logarithmic scale, and that of a tangent-function generator. These are performed on modified mechanisms with an added degree-of-freedom, which substantially simplify the synthesis problem.

Keywords: four bar mechanisms; optimisation algorithm; planar kinematics; slider-crank mechanisms; optimum synthesis; function generators; planar mechanisms; mechanism design; scaling; mirroring; rotations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRS.2016.077038

International Journal of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems, 2016 Vol.3 No.1, pp.60 - 79

Received: 09 Sep 2015
Accepted: 22 Mar 2016
Published online: 18 Jun 2016 *

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