LAUSR

It has been a significant and challenging issue to synthesize novel complex robot mechanisms to create the equipments/devices such as flexible hand-finger, flexible leg-feet, waist, the propeller generator of submarine or helicopter, artificial heart, flexible airfoil, and bionic mechanism. In this paper, an approach for recursively deriving the complex-associated linkages (ALs) with various links is proposed, and novel mechanisms with high complexity coefficient c are synthesized using derived ALs and the topology graph. First, the concepts of c and the various links Li with i connection joints are explained, and various kinematic pairs with multi-DoF are replaced with binary links L2 and connection joints J. Second, the unified recursive formulae are derived for solving c, Li (2 ≤ i) and the maximum number of Li as 0 ≤ c. Third, the 839 ALs with different groups of Li (2 ≤ i ≤ 8) as to 0 ≤ c ≤ 10 are derived utilizing the unified recursive formulae and a relative algorithm. The relations among c, AL, Li (2 ≤ i), redundant constraint, passive DoF and prescript DoF of the mechanisms are discovered. Finally, several examples are given to illustrate the approach of type synthesis of novel complex mechanisms using derived ALs and the topology graph. The recursively derived formulae and proposed approach are verified to be correct and effective.