Part IV: Closed-form solutions to Loop Closure Equations This section will review the closed-form solutions techniques

for loop closure equations. The following three cases will be considered. 1) Two unknown angles in the loop closure equation 2) One unknown angle and one unknown length 3) Two unknown lengths.

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -1

Review vector notation and algebra

y
r2

r1

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -2

Closed-Form Solutions to the Vector Loop Closure Equation A general loop closure equation may look something like: r r r r r1 + r2 + r3 + r4 + K = 0 where ri are vectors in the chain. The loop closure equation is a vector equation (and represents 2 scalar equations) and can be solved if only 2 scalar unknowns exist in the equation. Three possible cases exist: case 1) two unknown angles case 2) one unknown angle, one unknown length case 3) two unknown lengths

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -3

Solution for case 1) Two unknown angles: A general loop closure eq. with two unknown angles may look like: r // r // r /? r /? r // r1 + r2 + r3 + r4 + r5 K = 0 Here the unknowns are 3 and 4. Rearranging to collect all the knowns into a single vector, r // r /? r /? r k + r3 + r 4 = 0 r r r r rk , x = r1 + r2 + r5 + K with:

(c1.1)

(c1.2)

rk , x = r1 c 1 + r2 c 2 + r5 c 5 + K rk , y = r1 s 1 + r2 s 2 + r5 s 5 + K rk = rk2, x + rk2, y ,

k = atan 2(rk , y , rk , x )
(c1.3)

Step 1: Now, rewrite Eq. c1.2 with one of the unknown angles isolated on one side r /? r // r /? r3 + = rk r4 Step 2: Expand Eq. c1.3 into real and x and y components (real and imaginary parts) r3 cos( 3 ) = rk cos( k ) r4 cos( 4 ) r3 sin( 3 ) = rk sin( k ) r4 sin( 4 )
ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

(c1.4)

Part II -4

Step 3: Square and add Eq. c.1.4 to eliminate one unknown angle (4) r32 = rk2 + r42 2r4 rk c 4 c k 2r4 rk s 4 s k Step 4: Use the tan angle identity to yield an algebraic (quadratic) equation: 1 t2 2t c4 = , s4 = , t = tan ( 4 2 ) 2 1+ t 1+ t2 at 2 + bt + c = 0 with a = rk2 r32 + r42 + 2r4 rk c k

(c1.5) (c1.6) (c1.7)

b = 4r4 rk s k c = rk2 r32 + r42 2r4 rk c k Step 5: Solve for t:

(c1.8)

b b 2 4ac t= 2a Note: the two solutions yield the two branches of the mechanism. Step 6: Solve for the unknown angles

(c1.9)

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -5

2 atan (t + ) 4 = 2 atan (t ) (c1.10) r2 s2 + r1s1 + r4 s4 r2 c2 + r1c1 + r4 c4 3 = atan 2 , r r 3 3 Note: The use of an atan2 function (quadrant sensitive) ensures solution of unique angle value.

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Part II -6

Solution for case 1) Two unknown angles: Common application - Fourbar The classic case for solution of this equation is applied to the fourbar:
r3

3
r2 O2

r4

4 2
O4 r1

The loop closure equation becomes, r // r /? r /? r // r2 + r3 r4 r1 = 0 (c1.11) Here the unknowns are 3 and 4, 1 and 2 are the ground and input angles respectively. The procedure begins then with Step 1 above. Step 1: rewrite Eq. 2 with one of the unknown angles isolated on one side r /? r /? r // r // r3 = r4 + r1 r2
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(c1.12)
Part II -7

Step 2: Expand Eq. c1.3 into real and x and y components (real and imaginary parts) r3 cos( 3 ) = r4 cos( 4 ) + r1 cos(1 ) r2 cos( 2 ) r3 sin( 3 ) = r4 sin( 4 ) + r1 sin( 1 ) r2 sin( 2 ) Step 3: Square and add Eq. c.1.13 to eliminate one unknown angle (4) r32 = r22 + r42 + r12 2r4 c4 (r2 c2 r1c1 ) 2r4 s4 (r2 s2 r1s1 ) 2r2 c2 r1c1 2r2 s2 r1s1 Step 4: Use the tan angle identity to yield an algebraic (quadratic) equation: 1 t2 2t c4 = , s4 = , t = tan ( 4 2 ) 2 2 1+ t 1+ t 2 at + bt + c = 0 with a = r22 r32 + r42 + r12 2r2c2 r1c1 2r2 s2 r1s1 + 2r4 (r2c2 r1c1 ) c = r r + r + r 2r2 c2 r1c1 2r2 s2 r1s1 2r4 (r2 c2 r1c1 ) Step 5: Solve for t:
2 2 2 3 2 4 2 1

(c1.13)

(c1.14) (c1.15) (c1.16)

b = 4r4 (r2 s2 r1s1 )

(c1.17)

b b 2 4ac 2a Note: the two solutions yield the two branches of the mechanism. Step 6: Solve for the unknown angles t=
ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

(c1.18)

Part II -8

2 atan (t + ) 4 = 2 atan (t ) r2 s2 + r1s1 + r4 s4 r2 c2 + r1c1 + r4 c4 3 = atan 2 , r r 3 3

(c1.19)

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -9

Automating the solution process for one common case of mechanisms, the fourbar linkage. Since the fourbar is such a common mechanism, automating the solution process is worthwhile. A few ways to do this might include: Write a function that returns the solution based on an input set of link lengths and driving angle Create a fourbar class that has the functionality of solving the position problem. An example of the first of these methods is briefly described here. The syntax is based on programming in Matlab. First, create a function in matlab that will be called to solve the fourbar, (for example, fbar.m). This function will accept the link lengths, ground link angle, input angle and branch, and return the unknown angles in the fourbar. % fbar.m (theta3, theta4) = fbar(r1,r2,r3,r4,theta1,theta2,branch); theta3=_______ theta4=_______ return

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -10

Solution for case 2) One unknown angle, one unknown link length: Two possibilities exist in this case, the unknown angle and length exist in the same vector, or they do not. In the first case, the solution is trivial (unknown vector results from vector addition). In the second case, the procedure is as follows. Start with a loop closure equation, r ?/ r // r /? r1 = r2 + r3 (c2.1) with the first trailing superscript indicating known/unknown length, the second indicating known/unknown angle. Step 1: Rewrite the loop closure equation with the unknown angle isolated on one side of the equation. r /? r ?/ r // r3 = r1 r2 (c2.2) Step 2: Use the square and add technique to remove the unknown angle. r32 = r12 + r22 2r1 r2 c1c 2 2r1 r2 s1 s 2

(c2.3)

Step 3: This equation is now quadratic in the remaining unknown (r1), solve for the two roots. Note, the two roots correspond to the two possible branches of this loop. Step 4: Finally, solve for the remaining unknown angle using the atan2 function as before.
ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -11

Example of Solution for case 2), the slider crank: The figure below shows a generic slider crank with offset, slider angle fixed. The solution to the loop closure equation for this linkage follows. 3
O2 r2

2 1=490
r4

r3

4 r1 with r2 the crank (generally the input), r3 the connecting rod (unknown direction), r4 the vector along the axis of the slider (unknown length) and r1 an offset vector (known length and direction). The loop closure equation,
r // r ?/ r // r /? r1 + r4 = r2 + r3 Combine known vectors (r1 and r2 into rk) and isolate unknown angle, r /? r ?/ r // r3 = r4 + rk

(c2.4) (c2.2)
Part II -12

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

with r r r rk , x = r1 r2
rk , x = r1c1 r2 c 2 rk , y = r1s1 r2 s 2 rk = rk2, x + rk2, y ,

k = atan 2(rk , y , rk , x )

Eliminate the unknown angle with the square and add technique, 2 (c2.3) r32 = r42 + rK + 2r4 c4 rK c K + 2r4 s4 rk sk This equation is now a quadratic polynomial in the unknown length r4. It can be rewritten as, ar42 + br4 + c = 0 where a =1

b = 2rk (c4 ck + s4 sk ) c = rk2 r32

Step 3: The unknown slider length, r1 is now solved using the quadratic equation,

ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

Part II -13

 b b 2 4ac r1 = 2a yielding two solutions corresponding to the two branches of the mechanism.

(c2.3)

Step 4: and the unknown coupler angle is solved, r4 s4 + rk sk r4 c4 + rk ck 3 = atan 2 , r r3 3

(c2.3)

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Part II -14

Solution for case 3) Two unknown lengths: In case 3, the unknown lengths in the loop closure equation result in a set of two linear scalar equations and can be solved directly with linear algebra. The following example demonstrates this case. The vector loop equation is,
r ?/ r ?/ r // r1 r2 r3 = 0

(c3.1)

Step 1: Isolate the unknowns on the left hand side of the equation the knowns on the right hand side; r ?/ r ?/ r // (c3.2) r1 r 2 = r3 = 0 Step 2: Expand this equation into its scalar components, r1 c1 r2 c 2 = r3 c3 r1 s1 r2 s 2 = r3 s 3 Step 3: Cast these equations into matrix form, c1 c 2 r1 r3 c 3 s s r = r s 2 2 1 3 3
ME 3610 Course Notes - Outline

(c3.3)

(c3.4)

Part II -15

Step 4: Solve by premultiplying both sides of Eq. c3.4 by the inverse of the coefficient matrix, r1 s 2 c 2 r3 c 3 (c3.5) = / (s1 c 2 c1 s 2 ) . r2 s1 c1 r3 s 3

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Part II -16