Synthesis of a Lamp Mechanism

MAE 162A Introduction to Mechanism and Mechanical Systems

Spring 2011







James Bennett
ID: 003670704
Instructor: S. Jain
University of California, Los Angeles
Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
Due Date: May 31, 2011


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Grading Sheet for MAE 162A
Technical Content




Max Grade
Abstract 5%

List of Symbols 5%

Introduction 5%
Background 20%
Analysis and Synthesis Details 20%
Results and Discussions 20%
Conclusions 10%


References 5%
Appendices 5%
Grammar & Structure 5%






Total Grade

100%





Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

Abstract
The purpose of this project was to utilize a combination of analysis and synthesis techniques to
design a 6-bar mechanism such that a specific point of interest on the mechanism, i.e. the lamp,
follows a prescribed motion. The point of interest was required to move at least 600 mm along
the x-axis, have no more than 50 mm of vertical translation during the entire length of travel, and
undergo no more than 1 of angular deflection. Furthermore, the entire mechanism was required
to fit into a 1.5 by 1.5 meter box throughout its entire motion. In order to accomplish these
objectives, position analysis was performed using an initial, rough estimate of link lengths to
obtain an operating 6-bar linkage. Then, synthesis techniques consisting of repeated iterations of
mechanism simulation and subsequent alterations to link lengths were performed in order to
optimize the mechanism so that the objectives were met.

List of Symbols
R
i

vector representation of link i

R
i
length (magnitude) of link i

i
angle of link i measured from the horizontal to the tail of the vector
X
i
x-component of position of link i
Y
i
- y-component of position of link i

i
Angular deflection of link i

1. Introduction
The purpose of this project is to synthesize a lamp mechanism that will provide a prescribed
motion of the lamp. The goal is to create a 6-bar mechanism that will place the lamp at least
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

1000 mm from the wall in the fully extended position and at most 400 mm from the wall in the
fully closed position. The entire assembly should be able to fit into a 1.5 by 1.5 meter box in both
configurations. Throughout the entire length of travel: the lamp should not displace more than 50
mm in the vertical direction, no links should travel below the lamp, and the lamp should not
rotate more than 1.
In order to meet these objectives, position analysis was performed utilizing initial
guesses of link lengths. Two loop-closure equations were derived in order to track the positions
of the links. By knowing the positions of the links, the position of the lamp could also be found.
Using Matlab to perform iterations of the position of the lamp based on an array of input angles
of the driver link, the overall trajectory of the lamp throughout the entire motion of the
mechanism could be obtained. Plots to monitor vertical translation and angular deflection were
also created in Matlab. Autodesk Inventor was used in the optimization process in order to help
visualize the motion of the mechanism and ensure that it was able to fit into the 1.5 by 1.5 meter
box. Then, keeping track of previous link lengths and input angles in Excel, the link lengths were
altered repeatedly and changes to the motion of the mechanism were monitored until a
combination of link lengths that met the objectives were found.

2. Background
The process in synthesizing a lamp mechanism that performs a set of objectives differs from
analyzing the motion of a mechanism. When performing position analysis on a mechanism, there
is a single, distinct result obtained based on an initial input angle of the driver link. In other
words, various link lengths or angles can be determined based on given information of other link
lengths and/or angles to place the mechanism into a certain position. However, in order to
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

synthesize a mechanism, as was done in this project, only a description of objectives is given.
Link lengths and angles must be chosen, or synthesized, in order to create a mechanism that will
perform the given task.
In this project, in order to synthesize the 6-bar mechanism, first complex algebra position
analysis was performed in order to track the position of the lamp. This method consists of
defining position vectors corresponding to the links in the mechanism and then utilizing these
vectors in the loop-closure equation, which states that the sum of all the vectors in a loop is equal
to zero. For planar mechanisms, this vector equation generates two scalar equations which allows
for two unknowns to be solved. In this project, initial guesses for the link lengths were chosen
and thus the angles would be the unknowns to be solved.
Synthesis to design a mechanism that met the objectives was completed utilizing a
combination of Mathworks Matlab, Autodesk Inventor, and Microsoft Excel. Mathworks Matlab
is a numerical computing environment that was used in this project to perform iterations of
calculations of the positions of the links throughout the prescribed motion of the mechanism. In
other words, Matlab was used to loop through a prescribed set of input angles of the driver link
with some initial guesses for link lengths and solve for the angular position of each of the other
links corresponding to the specific input angle. Matlab was also used to create plots of overall
trajectory of the lamp, vertical translation of the lamp versus input angle of the driver link, and
angular deflection of the lamp over the course of the entire motion in order to track if the
objectives were met.
Autodesk Inventor is a 3D CAD program that was used in this project to simulate the
motion of the entire mechanism. Each of the links was constructed individually based on the link
lengths chosen when performing the calculations in Matlab. Then the links were assembled into
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

the complete mechanism and simulations of the motion of the entire mechanism based on a
prescribed set of input angles for the driver link were performed. The simulations were used to
see how closely the mechanism achieved the objectives of the project. Inventor was particularly
useful in ensuring the mechanism could fit into the 1.5 by 1.5 m box throughout its entire
motion.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application that was used in this project to store any
changes made to the initial guesses of the link lengths used in the calculations performed in
Matlab. The link lengths were continuously altered until each of the objectives of the project was
met. Excel was used to keep track of the link lengths throughout the perturbation process.

3. Analysis and Synthesis Details
Position analysis was performed using the complex algebra method. To utilize the loop-closure
equation, the 6-bar mechanism was broken up into two 4-bar mechanisms as shown in Figure
3.1.

Figure 3.1- Kinematic representation of the lamp mechanism with two 4-bar loops

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The two 4-bar loop-closure equations in terms of vectors are shown in Figures 3.2 and 3.3. The
angles in Figures 3.2 and 3.3 are measured from the horizontal to the base of the vector in the
fashion shown in Figure 3.4.

`








The vector equations for the two 4-bar vector loops are as follows:

2

+
3

(1)

2P

+
5

3P

(2)
Rewriting equations (1) and (2) in complex polar form we get

2

]0
2
+
3

]0
2

4

]0
4

1

]0
1
= u (1.1)

2P

]0
2
+
5

]0
S

6

]0
6

3P

]0
3

3

]0
3
= u (2.1)
We can rewrite each of these equations by separating them into their real and imaginary
components as follows
Re:
2
cos 0
2
+
3
cos 0
3

4
cos 0
4

1
cos 0
1
= u (1.1.1)
Im:
2
sin0
2
+
3
sin0
3

4
sin0
4

1
sin0
1
= u (1.1.2)
Re:
2P
cos 0
2
+
5
cos 0
5

6
cos 0
6

3P
cos 0
3

3
cos 0
3
= u (2.1.1)
Im:
2P
sin0
2
+
5
sin0
5

6
sin0
6

3P
sin0
3

3
sin0
3
= u (2.1.2)

R
2P

R
5

R
6

R
3P

R
3

2P
=
2

3P
=
3

a

R
a


R
2

R
3

R
4

R
1

1
= 270

3

Figure 3.2 - First 4-bar
vector loop
Figure 3.3 - Second 4-bar
vector loop

Figure 3.4 - Angles are
measured from the
horizontal
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With the assumptions of
1
= 270,
2P
=
2
, and
3P
=
3
, these equations were converted to code
in Matlab and then used to solve for the remaining angles over a prescribed set of input angles
for
2
. The conversion to Matlab code is included in the appendix and involves drawing vector

and

as shown in Figures 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 respectively.

In order to solve these equations, however, the link lengths must be known and therefore an
initial guess for all the link lengths is required. The initial guess was chosen by a rough
estimation of the lengths of the links on the prompt. These numbers were perturbed slightly until
a valid configuration that solved each loop was achieved.
Since the movement of the lamp (point A) is of concern in this project, it is necessary to
define a position vector from the origin at Joint 2 to point A. Point A is a specific point on the
lamp which is a part of link 6. The x-component and y-component of this vector are as follows
X
a
=
2
cos 0
2
+(
3
+
3P
) cos 0
3
+
u
cos 0
u
(3.1)
Y
a
=
2
sin0
2
+(
3
+
3P
) sin0
3
+
u
sin0
u
(3.2)
Similarly, the x-component and y-component of the vectors from the origin to the Joints 36 and
56 can be defined

R
2

R
3

R
4

R
1

1
= 270

s

S

R
2P

R
5

R
6

R
3P

R
3

2P
=
2

3P
=
3

5

Sp

Sp

R
a

a

Figure 3.2.2
Second 4-bar loop
with vector Sp
included
Figure 3.2.1 First 4-
bar loop with vector S
included

Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

X
36
=
2
cos 0
2
+(
3
+
3P
) cos 0
3
(4.1)
Y
36
=
2
sin0
2
+(
3
+
3P
) sin0
3
(4.2)
X
56
= (
2
+
2P
) cos 0
2
+
5
cos 0
5
(5.1)
Y
56
= (
2
+
2P
) sin0
2
+
5
sin0
5
(5.2)
Equations 3.1 and 3.2 were used in to calculate the position of point A so that the trajectory
could be plotted for the entire motion of the mechanism. This would determine if point A moved
the required amount in the x-direction and did not exceed the limit in the y-direction. Equations
4.1, 4.2, 5.1, and 5.2 were used to calculate the positions of the joints so that the angular
deflection of point A could be monitored. The equation for calculating the angular deflection is
as follows:

6
= tan
-1

Y
S6
-Y
36
X
S6
-X
36
(6.1)
The synthesis process involved referencing plots of the trajectory of point A and the
angular deflection of point A. These plots were created in Matlab to monitor how close the link
length guesses were to meeting the objectives of the project. The mechanism was also simulated
in Autodesk Inventor to verify the motion of the mechanism and also determine if it was able to
fit into the required 1.5 by 1.5 meter box. In order to optimize the link lengths so that the
objectives of the project could be fulfilled, each length was perturbed slightly to make the
behavior of the mechanism closer to what was desired. The entire process of guessing new link
lengths was kept in an Excel spreadsheet which is included in the appendix. Constant reference
was made to the trajectory and deflection plots in Matlab to monitor the performance of the
mechanism and the link lengths were changed slightly based on how each would affect these
plots. After the objectives appeared to have been met in Matlab, verification was done using the
simulation of the mechanism in Autodesk Inventor, with special attention paid to making sure
the mechanism would fit inside the 1.5 by 1.5 meter box.
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4. Results and Discussions
The combination of link lengths that produced the mechanism that was able to exhibit the
required motion was the optimized result. The optimized resulting values for the 6-bar lamp
mechanism are shown in Table 1 (for input angle range -15:
2
:89 degrees).
Table 1 Optimized Link Length Values
Link name Length (mm)
R
1
378
R
2
126
R
2P
40
R
3
252
R
3P
1000
R
4
360
R
5
1000
R
6
350
R
a
360

How well the optimized results adhered to the objectives of the project are shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Compliance to the Requirements
Requirement Specified Achieved Units
X displacement More than 600 629 mm
Y displacement Less than 50 6 mm
Rotation Less than 1 0.15 degrees
Collapsed Config. Less than 400 392 mm
Fully Extended Config. More than 1000 1021 mm

The information in Table 2 shows that each of the requirements was indeed satisfied by the
designed mechanism. Certain aspects, such as Y displacement and rotation, were achieved with
much leeway. The other requirements were barely satisfied. More time could be spent to perturb
the link lengths to achieve even better X displacement results. Also, the assumptions of
1
=
270,
2P
=
2
, and
3P
=
3
could be relaxed in order to achieve better results; however this would
create a much more difficult problem to solve.
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Figure 4.1 Trajectory of Point A (y vs. x)

The plot above tracks the absolute motion of the lamp (point A) as the entire mechanism moves
through the given range for the input angle of the driver link. As shown, point A is able to move
the desired distance in the x-direction without displacing over 50 mm in the y-direction. The
position of point A is measured with respect to the origin which is the joint between link 2 and
the base link. Therefore, point A is outside of 1000 mm in the fully extended configuration and
is inside of 400 mm in the fully closed configuration. The y-component of position of point A is
negative because the position is measured with respect to the origin which is above point A.
Figure 4.2 Vertical Displacement of Point A
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The plot above shows the y-component of point A for each input angle throughout the entire
range. As shown, the maximum displacement does not exceed 50 mm.
Figure 4.3 Angular Rotation of the Lamp

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The plot above shows the angular deflection of the lamp as a function of the range of the input
angle. As shown, the deflection does not exceed 1 degree.
Figure 4.4 Autodesk Inventor CAD Animation Simulation of the Lamp Mechanism
(This figure is included separately as a movie file submitted to CourseWeb)
The simulated mechanism incorporates the optimized results for the link lengths and drives the
input link (link 2) over the specified range. The animation shows that the mechanism is able to fit
into the 1.5 by 1.5 meter box throughout the entire course of motion. Furthermore, it shows that
the lamp is able to move the required x-distance (across both yellow lines).

5. Conclusions
An adequate design for the 6-bar lamp mechanism was found. The combination of link lengths
when driven over the range of the input angle of the driver link provides a motion of the lamp
that satisfies all the requirements. However, this mechanism did take into account certain
assumptions that may have limited its success. Restriction of the base to the strictly vertical
position may have caused a smaller range of motion in the x-direction than what could have been
achieved if this restriction had been relaxed. Similarly, forcing all of the joints of link 2 and 3,
respectively, to lie in the same line may have also caused restrictions on the overall motion of the
mechanism. The mechanism might have been able to fit into a smaller area or be able to move
across a larger range if the joints were not required to lie in the same line. However, as
mentioned before, these restrictions allowed for the problem of designing the mechanism to
become less complicated in certain respects, especially with regard to position analysis
calculations. An approach to optimization that involved use of the fsolve Matlab function could
also have been taken that could have more easily and effectively optimized the link lengths.
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

Acknowledgement
Alan Yip assisted in derivation of the position analysis equations and conversion to Matlab
code, helped in determining plots created in Matlab

References
Uicker Jr., J.J., Pennock, G.R., and Shigley, J.E., Theory of Machines and Mechanisms. 4
th

Edition. New York, NY: Oxford, 2011.

Appendices
Matlab Code Code used to perform calculations for position of mechanism and lamp over the
specified range of the input angle of the driver link.
clc;close all;clear all;

%Set link 1 to be vertical
Th1 = 270;

%prescribed maximum travel of input angle
Th2 = -15:1:89;

%link lengths in meters
R1 = 0.378;
R2 = 0.126;
R2p = 0.04;
R3 = 0.252;
R3p = 1;
R4 = 0.252;
R5 = 1.0;
R6 = 0.35;
Ra = 0.39;


for i=1:105
%calculate S in order to put Th3 and Th4 in terms of Th2
S(i) = sqrt((R1*cosd(Th1) - R2*cosd(Th2(i)))^2 + (R1*sind(Th1) -
R2*sind(Th2(i)))^2);
ThS(i) = atand((R1*sind(Th1) - R2*sind(Th2(i))) / (R1*cosd(Th1) -
R2*cosd(Th2(i)))) +180;
Th3(i) = ThS(i) + acosd ( (S(i)^2 + R3^2 - R4^2) /(2*S(i)*R3));
Th4(i) = ThS(i) - acosd ( (S(i)^2 + R4^2 - R3^2) /(2*S(i)*R4)) 180;
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

%Th4 180 degrees off

%calculate Sp in order to put Th5 and Th6 in terms of Th2
Sp(i) = sqrt(((R3+R3p)*cosd(Th3(i)) - R2p*cosd(Th2(i)))^2 +
((R3+R3p)*sind(Th3(i)) - R2p*sind(Th2(i)))^2);
ThSp(i) = atand(((R3+R3p)*sind(Th3(i)) - R2p*sind(Th2(i))) /
((R3+R3p)*cosd(Th3(i)) - R2p*cosd(Th2(i)))) + 180;
Th5(i) = ThSp(i) + acosd ( (Sp(i)^2 + R5^2 - R6^2) /(2*Sp(i)*R5))+180;
% Th5 180 degrees off
Th6(i) = ThSp(i) - acosd ( (Sp(i)^2 + R6^2 - R5^2) /(2*Sp(i)*R6));

%Point A Part of link 6 with same angle as link 5
Tha(i) = Th6(i) - Th6(1);

%X and Y coordinates of Point A
Xa(i)= R2*cosd(Th2(i)) + (R3+R3p)*cosd(Th3(i)) + Ra*cosd(Tha(i));
Ya(i)= R2*sind(Th2(i)) + (R3+R3p)*sind(Th3(i)) + Ra*sind(Tha(i));

%X and Y coordinate of Joint 36
X36(i) = R2*cosd(Th2(i)) + (R3+R3p)*cosd(Th3(i));
Y36(i) = R2*sind(Th2(i)) + (R3+R3p)*sind(Th3(i));

%X and Y coordinate of Joint 56
X56(i) = (R2+R2p)*cosd(Th2(i)) + R5*cosd(Th5(i));
Y56(i) = (R2+R2p)*sind(Th2(i)) + R5*sind(Th5(i));

%Change in angular position of lamp
dTh6(i) = atan((Y56(i) - Y36(i)) / (X56(i) - X36(i)))
end

k=1;

% Plot Trajectory of Point A (x vs. y)
figure(k);k=k+1;
plot(Xa,Ya,'k');
% Label x-, and y-axis
xlabel('x component (m)');
ylabel('y component (m)');
% Display a legend on the graph
legend('Absolute Position');
title('Trajectory of Point A');

% Plot the y coordinate of point A vs Th2
figure(k);k=k+1;
plot(Th2,Ya);
% Label x-, and y-axis
xlabel('\theta_2 (degree)');
ylabel('y coordinate (m)');
% Display a legend on the graph
legend('y coordinate');
title('Vertical Displacement of Point A');

%Plot change in Th6 vs. Th2
figure(k);k=k+1;
plot(Th2, dTh6);
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% Label x-, and y-axis
xlabel('\theta_2 (degree)');
ylabel('\theta_6 (degree)');
% Display a legend on the graph
legend('Th6');
title('Angular Rotation of Lamp');

Link Length Guesses in Excel Spreadsheet A record of the perturbations applied to link lengths
in order to meet the required objectives.
R1 (m) R2 (m) R2p (m) R3 (m) R3p (m) R4 (m) R5 (m)
0.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.6
0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.7
0.54 0.18 0.36 0.36 0.72 0.36 1.08
0.54 0.18 0.36 0.36 0.99 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.36 0.36 0.99 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.19 0.36 0.99 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.09 0.36 0.99 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1.12 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1.12 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1.17
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1.05
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 1 0.36 1
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 0.9 0.36 0.9
0.54 0.18 0.07 0.36 0.7 0.36 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.07 0.252 0.7 0.252 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.07 0.252 1 0.252 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.07 0.252 1 0.252 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.05 0.252 1 0.252 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1 0.252 0.9
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1 0.252 1.2
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 0.9 0.252 1.2
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 0.9 0.252 1.2
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1 0.252 1
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1.05 0.252 1
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1.05 0.252 1
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1 0.252 1
0.378 0.126 0.04 0.252 1 0.252 1

R6 (m) Ra (m) Th1 (degrees) Th2 (degrees) Tha (degrees)
Notes
0.2 0.1 270 30-60 Th5 - 20 Too small, not enough x
displacement, too much y
displacement
0.23 0.1 270 30-60 Th5 - 20 Change size of initial 4-bar loop:
Invalid configuration
0.36 0.18 270 15-80 Th5 - 20 Multiply by constant to get bigger
mechanism, too much y
displacement, too close to wall
0.36 0.18 270 15-89 Th5 - 20
Invalid Combination
0.585 0.18 270 15-89 Th5 - 20 Lot of x movement, too much y
displacement
0.585 0.15 270 15-89 Th5 - 20
Still too much y displacement
0.585 0.36 270 15-89 Th5 - 20 overall angle displacement and
several link sizes
0.605 0.35 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.36 270 15-89 Th5 - 22
Does not fit in box, Link 3 too big
0.605 0.36 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.36 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.36 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.45 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.55 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.65 270 15-89 Th5 - 22

0.605 0.69 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)
Redefine Tha
0.605 0.3 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.605 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.605 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.605 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.605 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1) Make first 4-bar linkage smaller so
mechanism fits in box
0.605 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)
Not enough x-displacement
0.5 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.5 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.5 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.5 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.5 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.35 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.35 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.35 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)

0.35 0.4 270 15-89 Th6(i) - Th6(1)
Increase input angle limits to
Bennett 003670704 5/26/2011

increase x-displacement
0.35 0.4 270 (-15) to 89 Th6(i) - Th6(1) Decrease link 3 to bring lamp closer
to wall
0.35 0.36 270 (-15) to 89 Th6(i) - Th6(1) ***Optimized*** - decrease lamp
size to bring closer to wall