Optimal Synthesis of Four-Bar Linkages for Four-Position Rigid-Body Guidance With Selective Tolerance Specifications

Abstract

Abstract In practical rigid-body guidance problems, very often one or more of the design positions need not be generated exactly. Further, extreme accuracy at the design positions is somewhat pointless considering the inherent limitations in linkage manufacturing processes. This emphasizes the requirement of synthesis techniques to be able to handle tolerance specifications on the nominal design positions. A favorable offshoot of the tolerance incorporation would be the accompanying increase in the solution space of the synthesis problem thereby yielding better linkage solutions.