2.2 Mechanisms 87
frame. Also shown in the figure are three moving rectangular coordinate
systems; (i) x
1
-y
1
attached to the link AB with origin at A, (ii) x
2
-y
2
attached
to the link BC with origin at B, and (iii) x
3
-y
3
attached to the slider CD at
point C.
A mobility analysis shows that the mechanism has 1 degree of freedom.
However, the 3 moving coordinate systems require 9 variables to establish
their position and orientation. Thus, 8 constraint equations must be devel-
oped to account for the excess variables. Using the figure above, we select θ
1
,
the orientation of the x
1
-y
1
coordinate system, as the independent variable.
The required constraints are determined by writing the position equations
for the origin of each of the moving frames, making use of the fact that the
mechanism forms a closed kinematic chain. The coordinate of the point A
with respect to the fixed frame,
0
r
QA
, yields the two constraint equations,
φ
1
= x
A
= 0,
φ
2
= y
A
− l
A
= 0.
The coordinate of the point B with respect to the fixed frame,
0
r
QB
=
0
r
QA
+
0
A
1
1
r
AB
, yields the two constraint equations
φ
3
= x
B
− l
1
cos θ
1
= 0,
φ
4
= y
A
− l
A
− l
1
sin θ
1
= 0.
Here,
0
A
1
is the direction cosine matrix relating the x
1
-y
1
coordinate system
to fixed frame, and
1
r
AB
is the coordinate of B in the x
1
-y
1
coordinate
system.
To obtain the constrains related to the x
3
-y
3
coordinate system we must
consider the kinematic behavior of the prismatic joint. By construction the
slider can only translate along the x-axis, and since the x
3
-y
3
coordinate
system is fixed to the slider at point C we have the constraints,
φ
5
= y
C
= 0,
φ
6
= θ
3
= 0.
The last equation indicates that there is no rotation of the x
3
-y
3
coordinate
system.
Finally, we make use of the fact that the mechanism forms a closed kine-
matic chain to get
0
r
QA
+
0
A
1
1
r
AB
+
0
A
2
2
r
BC
=
0
r
QC
(a)
0
l
A
+
cos θ
1
− sin θ
1
sin θ
1
cos θ
1
l
1
0
+
cos θ
2
− sin θ
2
sin θ
2
cos θ
2
l
2
0
=
x
C
y
C
,
where
0
A
2
is the direction cosine matrix relating the x
2
-y
2
coordinate system
to fixed frame, and
2
r
BC
is the coordinate of C in the x
2
-y
2
coordinate