Structural Synthesis of Kinematic Chains and Mechanisms

This study deals with the generation of kinematic chains with a given number of links and degree of freedom, as well as the derivation of the structurally distinct mechanisms from a specified kinematic chain by fixing a link of the kinematic chain as a frame link. Algorithms for determining the number of binary links and polygonal links of a chain, as well as the number of binary links that are connected to each other and their combinations, are developed. In order to eliminate isomorphic kinematic chains and mechanisms, a modified Degree Code method is proposed. Moreover, computer programs using Matlab are developed to computerize the whole procedure.