Kinetic Analysis of Planar Frictionless Mechanisms Made Simple

A purely analytical method has been developed for the kinetic (force or kinetostatic) analysis of frictionless planar mechanisms. It employs polar notation of vectors, the principle of conservation of energy and the force equilibrium of the links. Unlike many other methods which lead to a system of several simultaneous equations, it leads to only one algebraic or one vectorial equation at a time and, interestingly, it is less time consuming that the conventional graphical methods. The method is general, comprehensive and systematic such that it could also serve as a suitable teaching technique for manual approach to the problem. It easily lends itself to automation too.