Feb 6 2015
Hello. I am a mechanical inventor, and have recently become interested in parametric CAD due to two articles, both by E. C. Kinzel, J.P Schmiedeler, and G. R. Pennock, titled Kinematic Synthesis for Finitely Separated Positions Using Geometric Constraint Progamming, and Function Generation With Finitely Separated Precision Points Using Geometric Constraint Programming, both originally published in the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, September, 2006 and November, 2007 respectively. Both articles can be downloaded from the Web, which is how I discovered them.
The authors propose a techniqus, usable in any parametric modeler, for kinematic synthesis of planar linkages by using Sketch to roughly position and dimension the linkages in several positions, specifying input and output precision points, and then applying geometric constraints to force the software's solver to provide exact dimensions for the links. One can specify up to as many precision points as there are independent variables in the linkage design.
I haven't tried this out yet, I'm still looking into free trial CAD packages to experiment with, including Creo, Alibre, and Inventor.
I would like to run one or more of these programs on a non-Internet connected computer, if possible.
If this method of linkage synthesis works like its author claim it to, it could be a huge time saver..
Does anyone in the Creo community have experience with this technique.?
John Finch