Computational design of balanced open link planar mechanisms with counterweights from user sketches

Abstract

We consider the design of under-actuated articulated mechanism that are able to maintain stable static balance. Our method augments an user-provided design with counter-weights whose mass and attachment locations are automatically computed. The optimized counterweights adjust the center of gravity such that, for bounded external perturbations, the mechanism returns to its original configuration. Using our sketch-based system, we present several examples illustrating a wide range of user-provided designs can be successfully converted into statically-balanced mechanisms. We further validate our results with a set of physical prototypes. © 2020 IEEE.