Generation of planar kinematic chains

Abstract This work presents a completely automated, mathematically rigorous procedure that generates all planar, non-fractionated, pin-jointed kinematic chains having 2–6 independent loops and 1, 2, or 3 degrees of freedom. It also addresses the isomorphism problem and the elimination of rigid subchains. The computer programs can be run on any personal computer (XT or higher); over 6 million kinematic chains and 100 million inversions have been generated.