Lecture 2

31 March 2019
 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• In order for a mechanism to be useful, the motions

between links cannot be completely arbitrary; they too must
be constrained to produce the proper relative motions.
• These desired relative motions are obtained by a proper
choice of the number of links and the kinds of joints used to
connect them.
• Thus, in addition to the distances between successive joints,
the nature of the joints themselves and the relative motions
that they permit are essential in determining the kinematics
of a mechanism.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• The controlling factor that determines the relative

motions allowed by a given joint is the shapes of the mating
surfaces or elements.
• These shapes restrict the totally arbitrary motion of two
unconnected links to some prescribed type of relative
motion.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• It should be pointed out that the element shapes may often

be subtly disguised and difficult to recognize.
• For example, a pin joint might include a needle bearing, so
that two mating surfaces, as such, are not distinguishable.
• Thus, the criterion for distinguishing different pair types
is the relative motions they permit and not necessarily the
shapes of the elements, though these may provide vital
clues.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• When a kinematic problem is formulated, it is necessary

to recognize the type of relative motion permitted in each of
the pairs and to assign to it some variable parameter(s) for
measuring or calculating the motion. There will be as many of
these parameters as there are degrees of freedom of the
joint in question, and they are referred to as the pair
variables.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• Kinematic pairs were divided by Reuleaux into higher pairs

and lower pairs.
• He distinguished between the categories by noting that the
lower pairs, such as the pin joint, have surface contact
between the pair elements, while higher pairs, such as the
connection between a cam and its follower, have line or point
contact between the elemental surfaces.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

• The six lower pairs are illustrated in Fig. 1.2. Table 1.1 lists
the names of the lower pairs and the symbols employed by
Hartenberg and Denavit for them, together with the number
of degrees of freedom and the pair variables for each of the
six:
• The turning pair or revolute (Fig. 1.2a) permits only relative
rotation and hence has one degree of freedom. This pair is
often referred to as a pin joint.

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

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 Terminology, Definitions, and Assumptions

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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

• Mechanisms may be categorized in several different ways to

emphasize their similarities and differences. One such
grouping divides mechanisms into planar, spherical, and
spatial categories. All three groups have many things in
common.
• A planar mechanism is one in which all particles describe
plane curves in space and all these curves lie in parallel
planes; that is, the loci of all points are plane curves parallel
to a single common plane. This characteristic makes it
possible to represent the locus of any chosen point of a
planar mechanism in its true size and shape on a single
drawing or figure.

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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

• The motion transformation of any such mechanism is called

coplanar. The plane four-bar linkage, the plate cam and
follower, and the slider-crank mechanism are familiar
examples of planar mechanisms. The vast majority of
mechanisms in use today are planar.
• Planar mechanisms utilizing only lower pairs are called
planar linkages; they include only revolute and prismatic
pairs. Planar motion also requires that all revolute axes be
normal to the plane of motion and that all prismatic pair axes
be parallel to the plane.

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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

• If planar and spherical mechanisms are only special

cases of spatial mechanisms, why is it desirable to
identify them separately? Because of the particular
geometric conditions that identify these types, many
simplifications are possible in their design and analysis. As
pointed out earlier, it is possible to observe the motions of all
particles of a planar mechanism in true size and shape from a
single direction. In other words, all motions can be
represented graphically in a single view. Thus, graphical
techniques are well-suited to their solution. Because spatial
mechanisms do not all have this fortunate geometry,
visualization becomes more difficult and more powerful
techniques must be developed for their analysis.
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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

• Because the vast majority of mechanisms in use today

are planar, one might question the need for the more
complicated mathematical techniques used for spatial
mechanisms. There are a number of reasons why more
powerful methods are of value even though the simpler
graphical techniques have been mastered:
1.They provide new, alternative methods that will solve the
problems in a different way. Thus they provide a means of
checking results. Certain problems, by their nature, may also
be more amenable to one method than to another.
2. Methods that are analytic in nature are better suited to
solution by calculator or digital computer than by graphic
techniques.
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 Planar, Spherical, and Spatial Mechanisms

3.Even though the majority of useful mechanisms are planar

and well-suited to graphical solution, the few remaining must
also be analyzed, and techniques should be known for
analyzing them.
4. One reason that planar linkages are so common is that
good methods of analysis for the more general spatial linkages
have not been available until relatively recently. Without
methods for their analysis, their design and use has not been
common, even though they may be inherently better suited in
certain applications.
5. We will discover that spatial linkages are much more
common in practice than their formal description indicates.

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

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 Mobility

• There are only three possibilities:

If the DOF is positive, it will be a mechanisms, and the links

will have relative motion.
If the DOF is exactly zero, then it will be a structure, and no
motion is possible.
If the DOF is negative, then it is a preloaded structure, which
means that no motion is possible and some stresses may also
be present at the time of assembly.

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 Thanks
Questions (if any)

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