Automatic Structural Synthesis of Planar Multiple Joint Kinematic Chains

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Weijuan Yang ◽  
Peng Huang ◽  
Andrés Kecskeméthy

It is of great importance in the conceptual creative design of mechanical systems to synthesize as many feasible kinematic structures of mechanisms as possible. However, the methods for the structural synthesis of multiple joint kinematic chains are seldom addressed in literature even though they are widely used in various mechanical products. This paper proposes an automatic method to synthesize planar multiple joint kinematic chains. First, the bicolor topological graph and the bicolor contracted graph are introduced to represent the topological structures of multiple joint kinematic chains. Then, the characteristic number string of bicolor topological graphs is proposed and used to efficiently detect isomorphism in the synthesis progress. Finally, a systematic method for the synthesis of kinematic chains with one multiple joint is proposed, and the whole families of multiple joint kinematic chains with up to 16 links and all possible degrees of freedom are synthesized for the first time.

Author(s):  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Weijuan Yang ◽  
Peng Huang ◽  
Li Ma ◽  
Andrés Kecskeméthy

It is very important to synthesize as many feasible kinematic structures of mechanisms as possible in the conceptual design of mechanisms. Besides simple joint mechanisms, multiple joint mechanisms are also widely used in various mechanical systems. This paper proposes an automatic method for the synthesis of planar multiple joint kinematic chains which are seldom addressed in literature. The bicolor topological graph and the bicolor contracted graph are adopted to represent the topological structures of multiple joint kinematic chains. The characteristic number string of bicolor topological graphs is proposed and used to detect efficiently isomorphism in the synthesis progress. A systematic method for the synthesis of kinematic chains with one multiple joint is proposed, and the whole families of multiple joint kinematic chains with up to 16 links and all possible degrees of freedom are obtained for the first time.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Wenao Cao ◽  
Andrés Kecskeméthy ◽  
Zhen Huang

The creation of novel kinematic structures of mechanisms still represents a major challenge in the quest for developing new, innovative devices. In this setting, computer models that can automatically generate and visualize all possible independent structures in an intuitive manner prove to be valuable as a support in the creative process of the designer. This paper proposes an automatic approach for establishing the complete atlas database of 2-DOF kinematic chains and a systematic approach for the creative design of mechanisms based on such an atlas. First, the transformation of the kinematic structure into a graph-based representation is addressed. Then, an approach for the generation of all nonfractionated topological graphs of 2-DOF (degrees of freedom) kinematic chains using contracted graphs as well as a method for synthesizing all the fractionated topological graphs through the combination of corresponding 1-DOF kinematic chains are addressed. Based on these methods, the complete atlas database of 2-DOF kinematic chains up to 15 links is established in this paper for the first time. Using this complete database, a systematic approach for the creative design of mechanisms can be derived, as illustrated for the example of an 11-link 2-DOF rode tractor.


Author(s):  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Zhen Huang

This paper attempts to establish the unified topological models and corresponding mathematical representations for planar simple joint, multiple joint and geared (cam) kinematic chains. First, the conventional topological representation models of kinematic chains are introduced. Then new topological models of multiple joint and geared (cam) kinematic chains, which are derived from the topological graph of simple joint kinematic chains, are presented. The characteristics of the new topological graphs and their associations with the topological graph of simple joint kinematic chains are also addressed. The most important merit of the new topological graphs is that it makes it much easier to do unified structure synthesis and further establish conceptual design platform for various planar mechanisms of these kinds.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huafeng Ding ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Zhen Huang

This paper attempts to establish unified topological models and corresponding mathematical representations for planar simple joint, multiple joint, and geared (cam) kinematic chains. First, the conventional topological representation models of kinematic chains are introduced. Then, new topological models of multiple joint and geared (cam) kinematic chains, which are derived from the topological model of simple joint kinematic chains, are presented. The characteristics of the new topological graphs and their associations with the topological graph of simple joint kinematic chains are also addressed. The most important merit of the new topological graphs is that it makes it much easier to undertake unified structure synthesis and further to establish conceptual design platform for various planar mechanisms. Synthesis examples of both multiple joint and geared chains are given, which show the effectiveness of the unified topological models.


Author(s):  
Hitoshi Tokunaga ◽  
Satoshi Imamura

Abstract This paper deals with a new method for structural synthesis of mechanisms in a conceptual design as follows: first, using the Lie algebra-based representation of constraint on degrees of freedom, we propose an analysis procedure of the degrees of freedom between components in mechanisms of mechanical products. Second, this analysis procedure makes it possible to propose a structural synthesis procedure. Third, in order to select one of the mechanisms generated by the synthesis procedure, we introduce the concept of manipulatability as a criterion for the evaluation. Finally, to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed method, it is applied to an example of structural synthesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Sposito ◽  
Christian Di Natali ◽  
Stefano Toxiri ◽  
Darwin G. Caldwell ◽  
Elena De Momi ◽  
...  

Abstract Exoskeletons are wearable devices intended to physically assist one or multiple human joints in executing certain activities. From a mechanical point of view, they are kinematic structures arranged in parallel to the biological joints. In order to allow the users to move while assisted, it is crucial to avoid mobility restrictions introduced by the exoskeleton’s kinematics. Passive degrees of freedom and other self-alignment mechanisms are a common option to avoid any restrictions. However, the literature lacks a systematic method to account for large inter- and intra-subject variability in designing and assessing kinematic chains. To this end, we introduce a model-based method to assess the kinematics of exoskeletons by representing restrictions in mobility as disturbances and undesired forces at the anchor points. The method makes use of robotic kinematic tools and generates useful insights to support the design process. Though an application on a back-support exoskeleton designed for lifting tasks is illustrated, the method can describe any type of rigid exoskeleton. A qualitative pilot trial is conducted to assess the kinematic model that proved to predict kinematic configurations associated to rising undesired forces recorded at the anchor points, that give rise to mobility restrictions and discomfort on the users.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Huang ◽  
Huafeng Ding

The structural synthesis of Baranov trusses is still an open problem, although Baranov trusses are widely used in the design and analysis of mechanisms and robots. This paper proposes a systematic method for the structural synthesis of Baranov trusses. First, the definition review and the graph-form representations of Baranov trusses are proposed. Second, seven propositions on structural characteristics of Baranov trusses are concluded. Then, based on the set of constraint equations and a rigid subchain detection algorithm, a systematic method is presented to synthesize the complete set of Baranov trusses with a specified number of links. Finally, the synthesis results of contracted graphs (including valid and rigid contracted graphs) and topological graphs of Baranov trusses with up to 13 links are provided, and the synthesis methods and results between ours and the ones in the existing literature are compared and discussed in detail.


Author(s):  
Grigore Gogu

The paper presents fully-isotropic redundantly-actuated parallel wrists (RaPWs) with three degrees of freedom. The mobile platform has three independent rotations. A method is proposed for structural synthesis of fully-isotropic RaPWs based on the theory of linear transformations. A one-to-one correspondence exists between the actuated joint velocity space and the external velocity space of the moving platform. The Jacobian mapping the two vector spaces of fully-isotropic RaPWs presented in this paper is 3×3 identity matrix throughout the entire workspace. The condition number and the determinant of the Jacobian matrix being equal to one, the manipulator performs very well with regard to force and motion transmission capabilities. Redundant actuation is used to obtain fully-isotropic parallel wrists with three degrees of freedom. As far as we are aware, this paper presents for the first time in the literature the use of redundancy to design fully-isotropic parallel wrists as well as solutions of fullyisotropic RaPWs with three degrees of freedom.


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