Decoupling of dynamic equations by means of adaptive balancing of 2-dof open-loop mechanisms

Adaptive balancing is a technique that brings some modifications to unbalanced mechanisms in such a way to obtain static balancing and complete decoupling of dynamic equations, even when payload changes. These goals are accomplished by adding movable compensation inertias to the mechanism kinematic chain. The article develops this technique for two-degree-of-freedom planar articulated open-loop mechanisms. Through a performed simulation, a comparison between a mechanism using the proposed method, an unbalanced one and one only statically balanced is also provided. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.