kinematics

Kinematics deals with the relative motion between the

various parts of the mechanism.
A mechanism is a combination of different parts assembled in
such a way that the motion of one causes predictable motion
to others.
Kinematic analysis involves determination of position,
displacement, rotation, speed, velocity, and acceleration of a
mechanism
rigid bodies connected by joints in order to accomplish a
desired force and/or motion transmission

Tutorials in mechanism design and Animation

The subject of rigid body dynamics is an integral part of mechanics, in
general, dynamics has two distinct branches, kinematics ,and kinetics.
The topics of kinematics deals with the motion of objects disregarding
the forces that cause the motion. Here, one is interested in studying
position, velocity and acceleration. On the other hand, kinetics deals
with the forces causing motion and resulting in acceleration.

Kinematics Simulation advantages

Kinematics simulation can show a wide variety of design
issues that may occur before the manufacturing process. In
particular, the kinematic simulation allows analysis of the
relative movement between two parts, to detect possible
interferences or calculate velocities and accelerations.

Kinematic pairs
The kinematic Joints can be classified into two categories
based on the nature of contact between them as Lower
Pairs or Higher Pair.
the Lower Pairs are divided into six types of connections. A
lower pair has surface contact between the pair of
elements.

Kinematic joints
In the Higher Pairs connections the contact between the
two members is a point or line geometry. Point contact
is found in ball bearings and the line contact is
characteristic of cams, roller bearings and most gears.

The Degrees of Freedom

The degrees of freedom (DOF) of a rigid body is defined as the number of
independent movements it has. The degree of freedom is the number of
independent inputs required to precisely position all links of the mechanism
with respect to the ground. It can also be defined as the number of actuators
needed to operate the mechanism.
in order to define the degrees of freedom of the two dimensional
mechanism, it can be calculated through the Grbler-Kutzbach equation.

The Degrees of Freedom

The Joints
The unions between two members of a mechanism which can move
with respect to each other are connected together through kinematic
joints. This union creates a Kinematic Pair and the properties of joints
between them such as the relative motion and degrees of freedom
determine the resultant motion of a mechanism. For this reason, the
joints are one of the most important parts of a mechanism.

Tutorials in mechanism design and Animation

To effectively model mechanisms in DMU Kinematics, one should have a
thorough understanding of the various kinematic joint types and their
associated effect on system degrees of freedom. When a rigid body in space
moves, it can translate in three orthogonal directions (typically considered to
be x,y,and z) and rotate about each of these axes (sometimes considered to be
roll, pitch and yaw). Therefore, a rigid body in three dimensional space has six
degrees of freedom (dof), three translational and three rotational.

Degrees of Freedom of a Rigid Body in Space

An unrestrained rigid body in space has six degrees of
freedom: three translating motions along the x, y and z axes
and

three

respectively.

rotary

motions

around

the x, y and z axes

Tutorials in mechanism design and Animation

We classify joints in CATIA is as either simple or complex. We
will describe the various simple and complex joint types
beginning with the simple ones.

Simple joints in CATIA

revolute pair

spherical joint

Planar joint

screw joint

prismatic joint

cylindrical joint

1.Planar Joint
Consider the situation where the above block can slide on a flat plane as
displayed on the right. Here, the position of the block is uniquely determined
based on translation in the x,y directions and rotation about the z-axis.

Therefore the planar joint removes one translational dof &

two rotational dof .the no of Dof for a planar joint is three.

2.Prismatic joint
In the above situation, if the edges of the block, happens to be translating along
the edge of the supporting plane without possibility of rotation, it becomes a
prismatic joint with a single degree of freedom. All the three translational dof &
two the three translational dof are removed by a prismatic joint. The command for
this joint involves the translation.

3.Cylinderical joint

Consider the part shown that can slide along the bar and at the same time rotate about
the axis of the bar. This constitutes a cylindrical joint with two dof. Two of the three
rotational dof and two of the three translational dof are removed, where the axis of the
remaining rotation is the same as the axis of the remaining translation. The command
with a cylindrical joint involves either the angel of rotation or the translation.(or both)

4.Spherical joint
A spherical joint removes all translation capabilities and merely has
rotational dof. Therefore, a spherical joint has three rotational degrees
of freedom .

There is no command associated with this joint.

5.Rigid joint
A rigid joint is a trivial one where the parts involved in the joint are
effectively locked together leaving zero relative degrees of freedom.

There is no command associated with a rigid joint

Complex joints in CATIA

1 Revolute Joint : possesses one degree of freedom , namely a rotation .Two
planes and two lines are required for the construction of a revolute joint and the
planes must be normal to the axis but may be offset from each other.

The command for this joint is Angle

2.Gear Joint
a gear joint is made of two revolute joints. The gear ratio and the directions of
rotation can be specified. The joint simply applies a mathematical relation b/n the
angles of the two involved revolute joints based on the specified ratio.

The degree of freedom for the gear joint is one.

The command with a gear joint involves the angle for one of the revolute joints.

Followed steps in the kinematics design

Tutorials in mechanism design and Animation

CATIAs Digital mock up workbench has a module known
as DMU Kinematics where the former type of dynamic
simulations can be performed. However, kinetic analysis
is not available in CATIA V5. there are add-on third party
packages that can incorporate force calculation in the
mechanism designed in CATIA.

DMU-Kinematics
When the assembly is done, the first step to perform the
kinematics simulation in the 3D-CAD model is to fix a
Part using the Fix feature from the DMU Kinematics
Toolbar. After clicking the Fix feature but before defining
the Fixed Part.

DMU-Kinematics Workbench of CATIA-V5 offers

sixteen different joint types.

Joint creation

The Commands
The commands are angular or linear values which
define

the

kinematics

motion.

So

as

to

define

commands into the mechanism, it is important to think

about which Part will drive the mechanism. For instance,
the gear drives the pinion by the belt in the case of a
bike.

Commands in DMU
In order to define a command in DMU Kinematics
Simulation, a Joint has to be created before. Going
inside the Joint properties and defining the option Angle
Driven or Length the command is created. Even so,
there are Joints that do not allow add commands.

Kinematic Joints
Then, Joints can start to be created. Opening the
Kinematic Joints toolbars it is possible to select the
desired joint. First, the forward and backward motion of
the seat will be defined. For that purpose, a Prismatic
Joint will be created between the Slider and the Guide
Base.

Entering the Workbench

2.Select File -> Open from the menu bar.

3.Select the rods.CATProduct document from the samples
folder. Click Open to open the selected file. The specification
tree is displayed showing all the selected products.

Mechanism analysis

Degree Of Freedom
When the DOF are zero the mechanism can be
simulated. However, CATIA offers many options to carry
out this aim. In that case, the mechanism is going to be
simulated with commands and afterwards a record of
the simulation is done.

Compile simulation to use later.

Either attach in the kinematic file or
as separate file using

Simulation also can be saved as AVI file for

presentation.