Use of swept volumes in the design of interference free spatial mechanisms

Geometric modeling of a moving object (a generator) depends on two factors: its geometry and motion characteristics. The resulting model is commonly called the swept volume. In this study, geometries of the generators are represented by natural quadric surfaces (planes, circular cylinders, circular cones and spheres). Meanwhile, the instantaneous screw axis is used to describe the sweep motion of the generators and to aid the construction of their swept volumes. A closed formed solution to determine the points on the boundary of a swept volume at a specific time is developed for each of the generators. A point set which contains these points is called the characteristic curve. The final swept volume of a generator is a faceted model from a set of characteristic curves at different time steps over a time domain within which it moves. In this paper, the application of swept volumes in the geometric design of spatial mechanisms is discussed. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved