Assembly Configurations of Planar Multi-Loop Mechanisms With Kinematic Limitations

This paper examines the problem of identifying the assembly configurations (ACs), also called circuits, of planar multi-loop mechanisms with kinematic limitations, such as joint limits, link interference, collision with stationary obstacles, and workspace limitations. First, a method is given to describe numerically the satisfaction or violation of these kinematic limitations, and then this is applied to find the ACs of mechanisms with kinematic limitations. The method is valid for mechanisms with one or two degrees of freedom, and is illustrated with two examples.