Kinematic Acquisition of Geometric Constraints for Task Centered Mechanism Design

A motion task can be given in various ways. It may be defined parametrically or discretely in terms of an ordered sequence of displacements or in geometric means. This paper studies a new type of motion analysis problem in planar kinematics that seeks to acquire geometric constraints associated with a planar motion task which is given either parametrically or discretely. The resulting geometric constraints can be used directly for type as well as dimensional synthesis of a physical device such as mechanical linkage that generates the constrained motion task. Methods for kinematic acquisition of geometric constraints bridge the gap between type and dimensional synthesis and provide the foundation for task centered mechanism design.© 2010 ASME