Session: 17-01-01 Research Posters

Paper Number: 77344

Start Time: Thursday, 02:25 PM

77344 - A Tool to Analyze and Synthesize Planar Mechanisms 

Planar mechanisms are an integral part of everyday life and engineering education, especially in mechanical and robotics engineering. Designing a mechanism for an application is a challenging activity. It involves benchmarking, sketching various concepts, identifying kinematic outlines, carrying out preliminary kinematic and force analyses, evaluating and finalizing one concept, carrying out detailed design, prototyping, testing, and finally refinement. There are various CAD modeling tools available currently but none of them are effective for generating conceptual designs. Besides, those tools expect a certain level of expertise for effectively utilizing them and are not suited for generating many concepts in a short time span. Hence, the goal of this project is to develop a tool that can automatically generate multiple planar mechanism designs based on user requirements in the same or lesser timeframe that a user would generate the design manually. The tool is being designed in such a way that novice users, who are beginning their journey in this area or have just had a related course, will be able to use the tool and extract maximum benefit.

The application being developed is referred to as PMKS+ (Planar Mechanism Kinematic Simulator Plus) and is available both as a standalone Windows application and a browser-accessible version. Mechanisms utilizing revolute or prismatic joints and links of various shapes can be sketched and analyzed. The various analyses that have been integrated into the application include the kinematic analyses (position, velocity, acceleration) using graphical and loop equation techniques, force analyses using static equilibrium and Newton’s second law and stress analyses. The data from these analyses can be shown via charts or exported to a spreadsheet program. The program is also being designed to showcase loop equations and free body diagrams so that students will be able to understand how such analyses are being done in the backend to complement their coursework. Synthesis based on graphical and optimization techniques are being integrated and tested to allow users of the application to synthesize planar mechanisms based on specific needs. Users will also be able to generate the CAD assembly of their mechanism and export 3D printable G-Code from within PMKS+.

PMKS+ is being developed in such a way that novices can easily utilize the tool without extensive training. The application will valuable in complementing various courses and projects in mechanical and robotics engineering. The application has been tested with students at various times and the feedback has been highly positive with respect to its usability and applicability to coursework. The presentation will discuss the application, its development, challenges and future activities.

Presenting Author: Alexander Galvan Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Authors:

Alexander Galvan Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Pradeep Radhakrishnan Worcester Polytechnic Institute