Screw axes and mobility in spatial mechanisms via the linear complex

Abstract The geometry of the linear complex, as an expression of the helicoidal field of relative infinitesimal displacements of two bodies, is used to determine instantaneous screw axes in spatial mechanisms. It is then shown how the existence of many over-constrained linkages can be explainedm and even predicted, by applying simple theorems directly related to linear complexes, congruences, and ruled quadric surfaces.