Position Analysis with Matlab

Contents
2 Position Analysis
2.1 Absolute Cartesian Method . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Slider-Crank (R-RRT) Mechanism . . . . . . .
2.3 R-RRR-RRT Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4 R-RTR-RTR Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.5 R-RTR-RTR Mechanism - Complete Rotation
2.6 Path of a Point on a Link with
General Plane Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.7 Creating a Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Position Analysis with Matlab

2
2.1

Position Analysis
Absolute Cartesian Method

The position analysis of a kinematic chain requires the determination of the

joint positions and/or the position of the center of gravity (CG) of the link.
A planar link with the end nodes A and B is considered in Fig. 2.1(a). Let
(xA , yA ) be the coordinates of the joint A with respect to the reference frame
xOy, and (xB , yB ) be the coordinates of the joint B with the same reference
frame. Using Pythagoras the following relation can be written
(xB xA )2 + (yB yA )2 = AB 2 = L2AB ,

(2.1)

where LAB is the length of the link AB.

Let be the angle of the link AB with the horizontal axis Ox. Then, the
slope m of the link AB is defined as
m = tan =

yB yA
.
xB xA

(2.2)

Let n be the intercept of AB with the vertical axis Oy. Using the slope m
and the intercept n, the equation of the straight link, in the plane, is
y = m x + n,

(2.3)

where x and y are the coordinates of any point on this link.

For a link with a translational joint, Fig. 2.1(b), the sliding direction ()
is given by the equation
x cos y sin p = 0,

(2.4)

where p is the distance from the origin O to the sliding line (). The position
function for the joint A(xA , yA ) is
xA cos yA sin p = d,

(2.5)

where d is the distance from A to the sliding line. The relation between the
joint A and a point B on the sliding direction, B () (the symbol means
belongs to), is
(xA xB ) sin (yA yB ) cos = d,

(2.6)

Position Analysis with Matlab

.
2
If A x+B y +C = 0 is the linear equation of the line () then the distance
d is, Fig. 2.1(b)
|A xA + B yA + C|

d=
.
(2.7)
A2 + B 2

where = +

2.2

Slider-Crank (R-RRT) Mechanism

The R-RRT (slider-crank) mechanism shown in Fig. 2.2(a) has the dimensions: AB = 0.1 m and BC = 1 m. The driver link 1 makes an angle
= 1 = 45 with the horizontal axis. Find the positions of the joints and
the angles of the links with the horizontal axis.
Solution
The Matlab program starts with the statements
clear % clears all variables from the workspace
clc % clears the command window and homes the cursor
close all % closes all the open figure windows
The Matlab commands for the input data are
AB=0.5;

BC=1.;

The angle of the driver link 1 with the horizontal axis = 45 . The
Matlab command for the input angle is
phi=pi/4;
where pi has a numerical value approximately equal to 3.14159.
Position of joint A
A Cartesian reference frame xOy is selected. The joint A is in the origin
of the reference frame, that is, A O,
xA = 0, yA = 0,

Position Analysis with Matlab

or in Matlab
xA=0; yB=0;
Position of joint B
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B, xB and yB . Because
the joint A is fixed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B
are computed from the following expressions
xB = AB cos = (0.5) cos 45 = 0.353553 m,
yB = AB sin = (0.5) sin 45 = 0.353553 m.

(2.8)

The Matlab commands for Eq. (2.20) are

xB=AB*cos(phi);
yB=AB*Sin(phi);
where phi is the angle in radians.
Position of joint C
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint C, xC and yC . The joint
C is located on the horizontal axis yC = 0 and with Matlab
yC=0;
The length of the segment BC is constant
(xB xC )2 + (yB yC )2 = BC 2 ,
or
(0.353553 xC )2 + (0.353553 0)2 = 12 .
Equation (2.9) with Matlab command is
eqnC=(xB-xCsol)^2+(yB-yC)^2=BC^2;
where xCsol is the unknown.
To solve the equation, a specific Matlab command will be used.
The command

(2.9)

Position Analysis with Matlab

solve(eqn1,eqn2,...,eqnN,var1,var2,...varN)
attempts to solve an equation or set of equations eqn1,eqn2,...,eqnN
for the variables eqnN,var1,var2,...varN. The set of equations
are symbolic expressions or strings specifying equations.
For the R-RRT mechanism
solC=solve(eqnC,xCsol);
Because it is a quadratic equation two solutions are found for the position
of C. The two solutions are given in a vector form: solC is a vector with
two components solC(1) and solC(2). To obtain the numerical solutions
the eval command has to be used
xC1=eval(solC(1));
xC2=eval(solC(2));
The command eval(s), where s is a string, executes the string as an
expression or statement.
These two solutions for xC are located at the intersection of the horizontal
axis 0x with the circle centered in B and radius CB, as shown in Fig. 2.2(b),
and they have the following numerical values:
xC1 = 1.2890 m and xC2 = 0.5819 m.
To determine the correct position of the joint C for the mechanism, an additional condition is needed. For the first quadrant, 0 90 , the condition
is xC > xB.
This condition with Matlab is
if xC1 > xB xC = xC1; else xC = xC2; end
The general form of the if statement is
if expression statements else statements end
The x-coordinate of the joint C ise xC = xC1 = 1.2890 m.
The angle of the link 2 (link BC) with the horizontal is
2 = arctan

yB yC
,
xB xC

Position Analysis with Matlab

or in Matlab
phi2 = atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC));
The statement atan(s) is the arctangent of the elements of s.
The numerical solutions for B, C, and 2 are printed using the statements
fprintf(xB =
fprintf(yB =
fprintf(xC =
fprintf(yC =
fprintf(phi2

%g (m) \n, xB);

%g (m) \n, yB);
%g (m) \n, xC);
%g (m) \n, yC);
= %g (degrees) \n, phi2*180/pi);

The statement fprintf(f,format,s) writes data in the real part of array

s to the file f. The data is formated under control of the specified format
string.
The results of the program are displayed as
xB =
yB =
xC =
yC =
phi2
>>

0.353553 (m)
0.353553 (m)
1.06821 (m)
1.28897 (m)
= -20.7048 (degrees)

The mechanism is plotted with the help of the command plotf. The
statement plotf(x,y,c) plots vector x versus vector x, and c is a character
string.
For the R-RRT mechanism two straight lines AB and BC are plotted
plot( [xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o, [xB,xC],[yB,yC],b-o ),...
The line AB is a red (r red ), solid line (- solid), with a circle (o circle)
at each data point and the line BC is a blue (b blue ), solid line with a circle
at each data point and the. The graphic of the mechanism obtained with
Matlab is shown in Fig. 2.3.
The x-axis and y-axis are labeled using the commands

Position Analysis with Matlab

xlabel(x (m)),...
ylabel(y (m)),...
and a title is added
title(positions for \phi = 45 (deg)),...
On the figure the joints A, B, and C are identified with the statements
text(xA,yA, A),...
text(xB,yB, B),...
text(xC,yC, C),...
axis([-0.2 1.4 -0.2 1.4]),...
grid
The commas and ellipses (...) after the command are used to execute
the commands together. Otherwise, the data will be plotted, then the labels
will be added and the data replotted, and so on.
The statement axis([xMIN xMAX yMIN yMAX]) sets scaling for the x and
y axes on the current plot. To improve the graph a background grid was
added with the command grid.
The Matlab program for the positions is given in Program 2.1.

2.3

R-RRR-RRT Mechanism

The considered planar R-RRR-RRT mechanism is shown in Fig. 2.4. The

driver link is the rigid link 1 (the element AB). The following data are
given: AB=0.150 m, BC=0.400 m, CD=0.370 m, CE=0.230 m, EF =CE,
La =0.300 m, Lb =0.450 m, and Lc =CD. The angle of the driver link 1 with
the horizontal axis is = 1 = 45 .
Find the positions of the joints and the angles of the links with the horizontal
axis.
Solution
Position of joint A
A cartesian reference frame xOyz with the versors [, , k] is selected,
Fig. 2.4. Since the joint A is in the origin of the reference system A O
the coordinates of A are xA = 0, yA = 0 and the position vector of A is

Position Analysis with Matlab

rA = xA + yA . The vector rA is introduced in Matlab as

rA = [xA yA 0];
Position of joint D
The coordinates of the joint D are xD = La , yD = Lb and the position
vector of D is rD = xD + yD .
Position of joint B
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B, xB and yB . Because the
joint A is fixed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B are
computed from the following expressions
xB = AB cos = 0.106 m, yB = AB sin = 0.106 m.
The position vector of B is rB = xB + yB .
The Matlab program for this part is
AB=0.15; BC=0.40; CD=0.37; CE=0.23; EF=CE;
La=0.30; Lb=0.45; Lc=CD;
phi = pi/6 ;
xA = 0; yA = 0; rA = [xA yA 0];
xD = La ; yD = Lb ; rD = [xD yD 0];
xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi); rB = [xB yB 0];
Position of joint C
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint C, xC and yC . Knowing the
positions of the joints B and D, the position of the joint C can be computed
using the fact that the lengths of the links BC and CD are constants
(xC xB )2 + (yC yB )2 = BC 2 ,
(xC xD )2 + (yC yD )2 = CD2 ,

(2.10)

(xC 0.106)2 + (yC 0.106)2 = 0.4002 ,

(xC 0.300)2 + (yC 0.450)2 = 0.3702 ,

(2.11)

or

Equations (2.11) consist of two quadratic equations. Solving this system of

equations, two sets of solutions are found for the position of the joint C.

Position Analysis with Matlab

These solutions are

xC1 = 0.069 m, yC1 = 0.465 m,
xC2 = 0.504 m, yC2 = 0.141 m.

(2.12)

The Matlab program for calculating the coordinates of C1 and C2 is

eqnC1 = ( xCsol - xB )^2 + ( yCsol - yB )^2 = BC^2;
eqnC2 = ( xCsol - xD )^2 + ( yCsol - yD )^2 = CD^2;
solC = solve(eqnC1, eqnC2, xCsol, yCsol);
xCpositions = eval(solC.xCsol);
yCpositions = eval(solC.yCsol);
xC1 = xCpositions(1); % first component of the vector xCpositions
xC2 = xCpositions(2); % second component of the vector xCpositions
yC1 = yCpositions(1); % first component of the vector yCpositions
yC2 = yCpositions(2); % second component of the vector yCpositions
The points C1 and C2 are the intersections of the circle of radius BC (with
its center at B) with the circle of radius CD (with its center at D), as shown
in Fig. 2.5. To determine the position of the joint C for this mechanism, an
additional constraint condition is needed: xC < xD . Because xD = 0.300 m,
the coordinates of joint C have the following numerical values
xC = xC1 = 0.069 m,

yC = yC1 = 0.465 m.

(2.13)

The Matlab program for selecting the correct position of C is

if xC1 < xD
xC = xC1; yC=yC1;
else
xC = xC2; yC=yC2;
end
rC = [xC yC 0]; % Position vector of C
Position of joint E
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint E, xE and yE . The position
of the joint E is determined from the equation
(xE xC )2 + (yE yC )2 = CE 2 ,

(2.14)

Position Analysis with Matlab

or
(xE + 0.069)2 + (yE 0.465)2 = 0.2302 .
The joints D, C and E are located on the same straight element DE. For
these joints, the following equation can be written
yD yC
yE yC
=
,
xD xC
xE xC
or

(2.15)

0.450 0.465
yE 0.465
=
.
0.300 + 0.069
xE + 0.069

Equations (2.14) and (2.15) form a system from which the coordinates of
the joint E can be computed. Two solutions are obtained, Fig. 2.6, and the
numerical values are
xE1 = 0.299 m, yE1 = 0.474 m,
xE2 = 0.160 m, yE2 = 0.455 m.

(2.16)

The Matlab program for calculating the coordinates of E1 and E2 is

eqnE1 = ( xEsol - xC )^2 + ( yEsol - yC )^2 = CE^2 ;
eqnE2 = (yD-yC)/(xD-xC)=(yEsol-yC )/(xEsol-xC);
solE = solve(eqnE1, eqnE2, xEsol, yEsol);
xEpositions=eval(solE.xEsol); yEpositions=eval(solE.yEsol);
xE1 = xEpositions(1); xE2 = xEpositions(2);
yE1 = yEpositions(1); yE2 = yEpositions(2);
For continuous motion of the mechanism, a constraint condition is needed,
xE < xC . Using this condition, the coordinates of the joint E are
xE = xE1 = 0.300 m, yE = yE1 = 0.475 m.
The Matlab program for selecting the correct position of E is
if xE1 < xC
xE = xE1; yE=yE1;
else
xE = xE2; yE=yE2;
end

Position Analysis with Matlab

10

rE = [xE yE 0]; % Position vector of E

Position of joint F
The joint F is restricted to move in a vertical direction, i.e. xF = Lc =
0.370 m. The coordinate yF of the joint F can be calculated from the following quadratic equation
(xF xE )2 + (yF yE )2 = EF 2 ,

(2.17)

or
(0.370 + 0.300)2 + (yF 0.475)2 = 0.2302 ,
The solutions of Eq. (2.17) are
yF1 = 0.256 m,

yF2 = 0.693 m.

(2.18)

The points F1 and F2 are the intersections between the circle of radius EF
(centered at E) and the vertical line with x = xF , Fig. 2.7. For the mechanism depicted in Fig. 2.4, with = /4 the y coordinate of the joint F should
be smaller that the y coordinate of the joint E, yF < yE . The y coordinate
of the joint F is
yF = yF1 = 0.256 m.
(2.19)
The Matlab program for the position of F is
xF = - Lc ;
eqnF = ( xF - xE )^2 + ( yFsol - yE )^2 = EF^2 ;
solF = solve(eqnF,yFsol);
yFpositions=eval(solF);
yF1 = yFpositions(1); yF2 = yFpositions(2);
if yF1 < yE
yF=yF1;
else
yF=yF2;
end
rF = [xF yF 0];
The angles of the links 2, 3, and 4 with the horizontal are
2 = arctan

yD yC
yF yE
yB yC
, 3 = arctan
, 4 = arctan
,
xB xC
xD xC
xF xE

Position Analysis with Matlab

11

and in Matlab
phi2 = atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC));
phi3 = atan((yD-yC)/(xD-xC));
phi4 = atan((yF-yE)/(xF-xE));
The results are printed using the statements
fprintf(rA =
fprintf(rD =
fprintf(rB =
fprintf(rC =
fprintf(rE =
fprintf(rF =
fprintf(phi2
fprintf(phi3
fprintf(phi4

[
[
[
[
[
[
=
=
=

%g, %g, %g ]
%g, %g, %g ]
%g, %g, %g ]
%g, %g, %g ]
%g, %g, %g ]
%g, %g, %g ]
%g (degrees)
%g (degrees)
%g (degrees)

(m) \n, rA);

(m) \n, rD);
(m) \n, rB);
(m) \n, rC);
(m) \n, rE);
(m) \n, rF);
\n, phi2*180/pi);
\n, phi3*180/pi);
\n, phi4*180/pi);

The graph of the mechanism using Matlab for = /4 is given by

plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on % holds the current plot
plot([xB,xC],[yB,yC],b-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xD,xE],[yD,yE],g-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xE,xF],[yE,yF],b-o,LineWidth,1.5)
grid on,... % adds major grid lines to the current axes
xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),...
title(positions for \phi = 45 (deg)),...
text(xA,yA,\leftarrow A = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xB,yB, B),...
text(xC,yC,\leftarrow C = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xD,yD,\leftarrow D = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xE,yE, E), text(xF,yF, F), axis([-0.4 0.45 -0.1 0.6])
The graph of the R-RRR-RRT mechanism using Matlab is shown in
Fig. 2.8. The Matlab program for the positions and the results is given in

Position Analysis with Matlab

12

Program 2.2.

2.4

R-RTR-RTR Mechanism

The planar R-RTR-RTR mechanism considered is shown in Fig. 2.9. The

driver link is the rigid link 1 (the link AB). The following numerical data
are given: AB = 0.140 m, AC = 0.060 m, AE = 0.250 m, CD = 0.150 m.
The angle of the driver link 1 with the horizontal axis is = 30 .
Solution
The Matlab commands for the input data are
AB=0.140; AC=0.060; AE=0.250; CD=0.150;
phi=pi/6; %(rad)

%(m)

Next the length of the links DF and EG are selected

DF=0.4; EG=0.5;

% (m)

A Cartesian reference frame xOy is selected. The joint A is in the origin

of the reference frame, that is, A O, xA = 0, yA = 0.
Position of joint C
The position vector of C is rC = xC + yC = 0.060 m.
Position of joint E
The position vector of E is rE = xE + yE = 0.250 m.
Position of joint B
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint B, xB and yB . Because the
joint A is fixed and the angle is known, the coordinates of the joint B are
computed from the following expressions
xB = AB cos = 0.140 cos 30 = 0.121 m,
yB = AB sin = 0.140 sin 30 = 0.070 m,

(2.20)

and rB = xB + yB .
The Matlab statements for the positions of the joints A, C, E, and B are
xA = 0 ; yA = 0 ; rA = [xA yA 0] ;

% Position of A

Position Analysis with Matlab

13

xC = 0 ; yC = AC ; rC = [xC yC 0] ; % Position of C
xE = 0 ; yE = -AE ; rE = [xE yE 0] ;
% Position of E
xB=AB*cos(phi); yB=AB*sin(phi); rB=[xB yB 0]; % Position of B
Position of joint D
The unknowns are the coordinates of the joint D, xD and yD . The length of
the segment CD is constant:
(xD xC )2 + (yD yC )2 = CD2 ,

(2.21)

or
(xD 0)2 + (yD 0.060)2 = 0.1502 .
The points B, C, and D are on the same straight line with the slope
m=

(yB yC )
(yD yC )
=
,
(xB xC )
(xD xC )

(2.22)

or

(0.070 0)
(yD 0)
=
.
(0.121 0.060)
(xD 0.060)
Equations (2.21) and (2.22) form a system from which the coordinates of the
joint D can be computed. To solve the system of equations the Matlab
statement solve will be used
eqnD1 = ( xDsol - xC )^2 + ( yDsol - yC )^2 = CD^2 ;
eqnD2 = (yB - yC)/(xB - xC) = (yDsol - yC)/(xDsol - xC);
solD = solve(eqnD1, eqnD2, xDsol, yDsol);
xDpositions = eval(solD.xDsol);
yDpositions = eval(solD.yDsol);
xD1 = xDpositions(1); % first component of the vector xDpositions
xD2 = xDpositions(2); % second component of the vector xDpositions
yD1 = yDpositions(1); % first component of the vector yDpositions
yD2 = yDpositions(2); % second component of the vector yDpositions
These solutions D1 and D2 are located at the intersection of the line BC
with the circle centered in C and radius CD (Fig. 2.10), and they have the
following numerical values:
xD1 = 0.149 m, yD1 = 0.047 m,
xD2 = 0.149 m, yD2 = 0.072 m.

Position Analysis with Matlab

14

To determine the correct position of the joint D for the mechanism, an additional condition is needed. For the first quadrant, 0 90 , the condition
is xD xC .
This condition with Matlab is given by
if xD1 <= xC
xD = xD1; yD=yD1;
else
xD = xD2; yD=yD2;
end
rD = [xD yD 0]; % Position of D
Because xC = 0, the coordinates of the joint D are
xD = xD1 = 0.149 m and yD = yD1 = 0.047 m.
The angles of the links 2, 3, and 4 with the horizontal are
2 = arctan

yD yE
yB yC
, 3 = 2 , 4 = arctan
+ , 5 = 4 ,
xB xC
xD xE

and in Matlab
phi2
phi3
phi4
phi5

=
=
=
=

atan((yB-yC)/(xB-xC));
phi2;
atan((yD-yE)/(xD-xE))+pi;
phi4;

The points F and G are calculated in Matlab with

xF
rF
xG
rG

=
=
=
=

xD + DF*cos(phi3) ; yF = yD + DF*sin(phi3) ;
[xF yF 0]; % Position vector of F
xE + EG*cos(phi5) ; yG = yE + EG*sin(phi5) ;
[xG yG 0]; % Position vector of G

The results are printed using the statements

fprintf(rA = [ %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rA);
fprintf(rC = [ %g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rC);

Position Analysis with Matlab

fprintf(rE =
fprintf(rB =
fprintf(rD =
fprintf(phi2
fprintf(phi4
fprintf(rF =
fprintf(rG =

[
[
[
=
=
[
[

15

%g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rE);

%g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rB);
%g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rD);
phi3 =%g (degrees) \n, phi2*180/pi);
phi5 =%g (degrees) \n, phi4*180/pi);
%g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rF);
%g, %g, %g ] (m) \n, rG);

The graph of the mechanism in Matlab for = /6 is given by

plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on % holds the current plot
plot([xD,xC],[yD,yC],b-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xC,xB],[yC,yB],b-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xB,xF],[yB,yF],b-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xE,xD],[yE,yD],g-o,LineWidth,1.5)
hold on
plot([xD,xG],[yD,yG],g-o,LineWidth,1.5)
grid on,...
xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),...
title(positions for \phi = 30 (deg)),...
text(xA,yA,\leftarrow A = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xB,yB, B),...
text(xC,yC,\leftarrow C = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xD,yD, D),...
text(xE,yE,\leftarrow E = ground,HorizontalAlignment,left),...
text(xF,yF, F), text(xG,yG, G), axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3])
The graph of the mechanism using Matlab is shown in Fig. 2.11. The
Matlab program for the positions and the results for the R-RTR-RTR mechanism is given in Program 2.3.

Position Analysis with Matlab

2.5

16

R-RTR-RTR Mechanism - Complete Rotation

For a complete rotation of the driver link AB, 0 360 , a step angle
of 60 is selected. To calculate the position analysis for a complete cycle the
Matlab statement for var=startval:step:endval, statement end is used. It
repeatedly evaluates statement in a loop. The counter variable of the loop
is var. At the start the variable is initialized to value startval and is incremented (or decremented when step is negative) by the value step for each
iteration. The statement is repeated until var has incremented to the value
endval. For the considered mechanism the following applies
for phi=0:pi/3:2*pi, Program block, end;
Method I - constraint conditions
Method I uses constraint conditions for the mechanism for each quadrant.
For the mechanism, there are several conditions for the position of the joint
D.
For the angle located in the first quadrant 0 90 (Fig. 2.10), and
the fourth quadrant 270 360 (Fig. 2.14), the following relation exists
between xD and xC :
xD xC = 0.
For the angle located in the second quadrant 90 < 180 (Fig. 2.12),
and the third quadrant 180 < < 270 (Fig. 2.13), the following relation
exists between xD and xC :
xD xC = 0.
The following Matlab commands are used to determine the correct position of the joint D for all four quadrants
if (phi>=0 && phi<=pi/2)||(phi >= 3*pi/2 && phi<=2*pi)
if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end
else
if xD1 >= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end
end
where || is the logical OR function.

Position Analysis with Matlab

17

The Matlab program and the results for a complete rotation of the
driver link using method I is given in Program 2.3. The graphic of the mechanism for a complete rotation of the driver link is given in Fig. 2.15. To
simplify the graphic the points E and G are not shown on the figure.
Method II - Euclidian distance function
Another position analysis method for a complete rotation of the driver
link uses constraint conditions only for the initial value of the angle . Next
for the mechanism, the correct position of the joint D is calculated using a
simple function, the Euclidian distance between two points P and Q:
d=

(xP xQ )2 + (yP yQ )2 .

(2.23)

In Matlab, the following function is introduced with a m-file (Dist.m):

function d=Dist(xP,yP,xQ,yQ);
d=sqrt((xP-xQ)^2+(yP-yQ)^2);
end
For the initial angle = 0 , the constraint is xD xC , so the first position of
the joint D, that is, D0 , is calculated for the first step D = D0 = Dk , k = 0.
I
For the next position of the joint, Dk+1 , there are two solutions Dk+1
and
II
Dk+1 , k = 0, 1, 2, .... In order to choose the correct solution of the joint,
Dk+1 , it is compared the distances between the old position, Dk , and each
II
I
. The distances between the known
and Dk+1
new calculated positions Dk+1
II
I
are dIk and dII
and Dk+1
solution Dk and the new solutions Dk+1
k . If the
distance to the first solution is less than the distance to the second solution,
I
II
dIk < dII
k , then the correct answer is Dk+1 = Dk+1 , or else Dk+1 = Dk+1
(Fig. 2.16).
The following Matlab statements are used to determine the correct position of the joint D using a single condition for all four quadrants:

Position Analysis with Matlab

18

increment=0;
% at the initial moment phi=0 => increment = 0
step=pi/6;
% the step has to be small for this method
for phi=0:step:2*pi,
...
if increment == 0
if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end
else
dist1 = Dist(xD1,yD1,xDold,yDold);
dist2 = Dist(xD2,yD2,xDold,yDold);
if dist1 < dist2 xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end
end
xDold=xD;
yDold=yD;
increment=increment+1;
...
end
At the beginning of the rotation the driver link makes an angle phi=0
with the horizontal and the value of counter increment is 0. The Matlab
statement
increment=increment+1;
specifies that 1 is to be added to the value in increment and the result
stored back in increment. The value increment should be incremented by
1.
With this algorithm the correct solution is selected using just one constraint relation for the initial step and then, automatically, the problem is
solved. In this way it is not necessary to have different constraints for different quadrants.
For the Euclidian distance method the selection the step of the angle is
very important. If the step of the angle has a large value the method might
give wrong answers and that is why it is important to check the graphic of
the mechanism.
The Matlab program and the results for a complete rotation of the
driver link using the second method is given in Program 2.5. The graph of
the mechanism for a complete rotation of the driver link (the step of the
angle is 30 ) is given in Fig. 2.17 (the points E and G are not shown).

Position Analysis with Matlab

2.6

19

Path of a Point on a Link with

General Plane Motion

R-RRT mechanism
The mechanism shown in Fig. 2.18(a) has AB = 0.5 m and BC = 1 m.
The link 2 (connecting rod BC) has a general plane motion: translation along
x-axis, translation along y-axis, and rotation about z-axis. The mass center
of link 2 is located at C2 . Determine the path of point C2 for a complete
rotation of the driver link 1.
Solution
The coordinates of the joint B are: xB = AB cos and yB = AB sin ,
where
0 360 . The coordinates of the joint C are: xC = xB +
q
BC 2 yB2 and yC = 0. The mass center of the link 2 is the midpoint
of the segment BC
xC 2 =

xB + xC
2

and yC2 =

yB + yC
.
2

The Matlab statements for the coordinates of C2 are

AB = .5; BC = 1; xA = 0; yA = 0; yC = 0;
incr = 0;
for phi=0:pi/10:2*pi,
xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi);
xC = xB + sqrt(BC^2-yB^2);
incr = incr + 1;
xC2(incr)=(xB+xC)/2; yC2(incr)=(yB+yC)/2;
end % end for
For the complete rotation of the driver link AB, 0 360 , a step
angle of /10 was selected.
For the coordinates of C2 two vectors
xC2=[xC2(1) xC2(2) ... xC2(incr) ... ] and
yC2=[yC2(1) yC2(2) ... yC2(incr) ... ] are obtained.
The first components xC2(1) and yC2(1) are calculated for phi=0 and incr=1.
The path of C2 is obtained plotting the vector yC2 in terms of xC2
plot(xC2, yC2, -ko),...

Position Analysis with Matlab

20

xlabel(x (m)), ylabel(y (m)),...

title(Path described by C2), grid
Figure 2.18(b) shows two plots: the mechanism for 0 360 and the
closed path described by the point C2 on the link 2 in general plane motion.
The plots are obtained using Program 2.6.
R-RRR-RRT mechanism
The mechanism shown in Fig. 2.4 has the dimensions given at subsection 2.3. The link 2 (link BC) has a general plane motion. The positions of
the mechanism for 0 360 and the closed path described by the mass
center C2 of the link 2 are shown in Figure 2.19. The plots are obtained using
Program 2.7.

2.7

Creating a Movie

The R-RRR-RRT mechanism shown in Fig. 2.4 has the dimensions given at
subsection 2.3. This example illustrates the use of movies to visualize the
positions of the mechanism for 0 360 .
The first step is to create axis the same size as the ones that will display
the movie The axis command is
axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3])
The statement, moviein is used to create a matrix large enough to hold
the 6 frames that compose the movie of the mechanism for 6 values of the
driver angle .
M = moviein(6);
The axis statement must precede the M = moviein(6); statement to
ensure M is initialized to the correct dimensions. Next the command,
set(gca,NextPlot,replacechildren)
is employed to prevent the plot function from resetting the axis shaping
to axis normal each time it is called.

Position Analysis with Matlab

21

The program has the structure

clear; clc; close all
AB = 0.14; AC = 0.06; AE = 0.25; CD = 0.15;
xA = 0; yA = 0; xC = 0 ; yC = AC; xE = 0; yE = -AE;
axis([-0.3 0.3 -0.3 0.3]);
M = moviein(6);
set(gca,NextPlot,replacechildren)
incr = 0;
for phi=pi/3:pi/3:2*pi,
xB = AB*cos(phi); yB = AB*sin(phi);
eqnD1 = ( xDsol - xC )^2 + ( yDsol - yC )^2 = CD^2 ;
eqnD2 = (yB - yC) / (xB - xC) = (yDsol - yC) / (xDsol - xC);
solD = solve(eqnD1, eqnD2, xDsol, yDsol);
xDpositions = eval(solD.xDsol); yDpositions = eval(solD.yDsol);
xD1 = xDpositions(1); xD2 = xDpositions(2);
yD1 = yDpositions(1); yD2 = yDpositions(2);
if (phi>=0 && phi<=pi/2)||(phi >= 3*pi/2 && phi<=2*pi)
if xD1 <= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end else
if xD1 >= xC xD = xD1; yD=yD1; else xD = xD2; yD=yD2; end end
plot([xA,xB],[yA,yB],r-o,[xB,xD],[yB,yD],b-o,[xD,xE],[yD,yE],g-o),...
text(xA,yA, A), text(xB,yB, B), text(xC,yC, C),...
text(xD,yD, D), text(xE,yE, E)
incr = incr + 1;
M(:,incr) = getframe;
end
The statement, getframe returns the contents of the current axes, exclusive of the axis labels, title, or tick labels. After generating the movie, it can
be play back any number of times. To play it back 5 times, type movie(M,5).