Avinash Dawari and Dibakar Sen
ABSTRACT: Computer aided design of machines involves modeling and analysis of the articulated assemblies. An assembly model is created by relative positioning of parts, whereas a kinematic model is created by specifying kinematic constraints between the parts. Over 100 papers are reviewed in the areas of relative part positioning and deriving kinematic information from parts or assemblies. The papers are categorized by the approaches for the generation of assembly and kinematic models. The various representation schemes available for these two models are presented. It is observed that there is redundancy in the specification of assembly and kinematic constraints, and no comprehensive method is available to integrate these two models. Also, these two representations are inconsistent. The attempts made to bridge the gaps between these two models are discussed. The physical contact between the parts in an assembly reduces the degrees of freedom of the parts involved. This paper attempts to establish the relation between the relative part positions and the kinematic freedoms of the parts implicitly available in the literature.
KEYWORDS: Part Positioning, Degrees of Freedom, Assembly Constraints, Kinematic Constraints