An Application of Dual Graphs to the Automatic Generation of the Kinematic Structures of Mechanisms

Abstract

Through the use of dual graphs, a powerful new representation of the kinematic structure of mechanisms has been developed. This permits the development of a highly efficient completely automatic procedure for the computer-generated enumeration of the kinematic structures of mechanisms. As an example, the kinematic structures of one, two and three-degree-of-freedom plane bar linkages with up to four independent loops have been enumerated on a personal computer.