MECHANICAL DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF A NOVEL FIVE-BAR MECHANISM WITH VARIABLE TOPOLOGY

This paper introduces a novel one degree of freedom five bar Type II mechanism with variable topology (MVT). A Type II MVT is a mechanism that can change its topology due to a change in its kinematic pair or representative orientation. The advantages of Type II MVTs are that they are lightweight, have low power consumption, and reduce the mechanism's required number of actuators. This new mechanism also has the advantage of combining the characteristics of both a four-bar and a crankslider mechanism into a one DOF mechanism that can achieve an end-effector trajectory that is not possible by using either a four-bar or crank-slider. The mechanism is intended as a general-purpose mechanism that could be used across many industries; however, a pick and place application will be presented as an illustrative example to show the mechanism's utility for a practical application. The mechanism's topology was analyzed using kinematic diagrams. A prototype mechanism was built, and experimental data shows that the mechanism achieves excellent position tracking, making this mechanism one of the first ever fully automated MVTs.