A general method to synthesize planar overconstrained mechanism

Abstract

Traditionally, planar overconstrained mechanisms has been explained through special geometry, which often lacks clarity and specificity. This paper addresses this challenge by introducing two explicit criteria for analyzing and synthesizing planar overconstrained mechanisms. With the criteria, one may synthesize new planar overconstrained systematically and confidently. To create new planar overconstrained mechanisms, three approaches are employed: the parallelogram-aided approach, the stretch-rotation approach, and an optimization-based method. Given that the mobility of mechanisms is independent of the choice of the ground link and that the mathematical treatment of function generation is straightforward, this paper proposes a systematic approach for synthesizing novel function cognates. By combining these approaches, new types of overconstrained mechanisms are discovered. Leveraging advanced computational tools, a special geometric condition for function cognates of inverted slider cranks is found for the first time. Through inversion, the coupler cognates for slider cranks are also identified. The success of these results indicates that the proposed criteria are explicit and crucial for discovering new mechanisms, and the concept may be extended to spherical or spatial cases.