LinkEdit: Interactive Linkage Editing using Symbolic Kinematics

摘要

We present a method for interactive editing of planar linkages.rnGiven a working linkage as input, the user can make targeted editsrnto the shape or motion of selected parts while preserving other, e.g.,rnfunctionally-important aspects. In order to make this process intuitivernand efficient, we provide a number of editing tools at differentrnlevels of abstraction. For instance, the user can directly changernthe structure of a linkage by displacing joints, edit the motion ofrnselected points on the linkage, or impose limits on the size of itsrnenclosure. Our method safeguards against degenerate configurationsrnduring these edits, thus ensuring the correct functioning of thernmechanism at all times. Linkage editing poses strict requirementsrnon performance that standard approaches fail to provide. In order tornenable interactive and robust editing, we build on a symbolic kinematicsrnapproach that uses closed-form expressions instead of numericalrnmethods to compute the motion of a linkage and its derivatives.rnWe demonstrate our system on a diverse set of examples,rnillustrating the potential to adapt and personalize the structure andrnmotion of existing linkages. To validate the feasibility of our editedrndesigns, we fabricated two physical prototypes.