Four-Bar Linkage Synthesis for a Combination of Motion and Path-Point Generation

This paper develops techniques that address the design of planar four-bar linkages for tasks common to pick-and-place devices, used in assembly and manufacturing operations. Pickand-place tasks often require the exact position and orientation of an object (motion generation) at the end points of the task. Within the range of movement, the motion restrictions are less rigorous with only the position of the object (path-point generation) being specified to avoid obstacles. Established synthesis theory has been developed for either motion generation or pathpoint generation tasks. This paper presents four-bar linkage synthesis methods for tasks that include a combination of motion and path requirements. This synthesis challenge is addressed via two approaches: Geometric Constraint Programming (GCP) and numerical solutions to synthesis equations. Using GCP, a step-by