Discover a formal framework for predicting how mechanisms move, using configuration spaces to map possible motions.This nonfiction work presents a coherent approach to analyzing the kinematic behavior of mechanical devices. It shows how the shape of a mechanism’s configuration space relates to the motions its parts can perform, and it explains how to build and interpret region diagrams that summarize qualitative behavior. The text contrasts fixed-axis mechanisms with movable-axis systems and offers practical methods for computing, composing, and visualizing their motion possibilities.
- Understand the link between a mechanism's configuration space and its motion patterns.
- Learn how simple regions and composition rules help predict complex movements.
- Explore algorithms that generate region diagrams and state diagrams from input motions.
Ideal for readers of robotics, mechanical design, and qualitative reasoning about physical systems who seek a rigorous, hands-on framework for kinematic analysis.