Approximating planar, morphing curves with rigid-body linkages

This paper presents a procedure to synthesize planar linkages, composed of rigid links and revolute joints, that approximate a shape change defined by a set of curves. These “morphing curves” differ from each other by a combination of rigid-body displacement and shape change. Rigid link geometry is determined through analysis of piecewise linear curves, and increasing the number of links improves the shape-change approximation. The framework is applied to an open-chain example.