Study and construction of an RCRCR spatial mechanism

The purpose of this work is the study of the kinematics of an RCRCR spatial mechanism and the design of a 3D prototype able to perform the full range of mobility allowed in theory. To achieve this, the solution of the input-output equations of the mechanism has been implemented in a commercial mathematical software (Maple) that allowed the analysis of all the aspects relevant to our task. It has been realised that driving the mechanism along the full cycle of configurations requires the alternative actuation on two different rotational pairs, which have been chosen to optimise the control of the mechanism. To design the shape of each link, so that the interference between different parts of the mechanism is avoided along the whole range of movement, a process of collision detection between links has been developed. Given the final link shapes, a complete design of all mechanism parts, including the fixation of the joints' bearings and the connections between joints and links, has been carried out in order to build them using a 3D printing process called FDM (fusion deposition modelling). A simulation of the motion of the complete design has been performed, showing that, using the two motors, the mechanism can perform a complete motion cycle with no collisions.