Synthesizing Single DOF Linkages Via Transition Linkage Identification

A linkage is partially classified by identifying those links capable of unceasing and drivable rotation and those that are not. In this paper, we examine several planar single degree-of-freedom linkages to identify all changes to the physical parameters that may alter this classification. The limits on the physical parameters that result in no change in the classification are defined by transition linkages. More rigorously, a transition linkage possesses a configuration at which the matrix defined by the derivative of the loop closure equations with respect to the joint variables loses rank. Transition linkages divide the set of all linkages into different classifications. In the simplest cases studied, transition linkage identification produces a comprehensive classification scheme. In all cases, this identification is used to alter a linkage’s physical parameters without changing its classification and produces insight into the selection of these parameters to produce a desired classification.