Constraint-Based Mechanism Analysis of a Robot Gripper

This paper discusses the use of a constrain-based design tool to analyze planar mechanisms. A robot gripper was used to demonstrate the technique developed based on the polygon method, focusing on the analyses of position, velocity, acceleration and force. The constraint network provided by the software, which included geometric, dimensional, and algebraic constraints, was utilized to impose relations between vector polygons and skeleton-form mechanism. The technique as developed in this study proved to be much more effective when compared to the traditional graphical or mathematical approach.