3. Kinematic Analysis & Synthesis

As designed, this mechanism is a simple 4-bar linkage consisting of 4 revolute joints, with one being an input source for motion. The link lengths control the stepping motion produced, so to obtain the most optimal walking motion we used this walking mechanism link length optimizer. The mechanism is shown below. 

A vector loop is used to calculate the position, velocity, and acceleration of each joint in the mechanism. The equations used are shown below: 

Position: 

Velocity: 

Acceleration: 

The above equations were input into Matlab and solved to obtain the position of point D, which is in contact with the ground and thus responsible for moving the mechanism. The link lengths, input angular velocity assumptions, and code can be found in the attachment below. The code outputs a moving image of the mechanism for a full rotation, shown below. Note the straight motion section of point D. 

Code: Project_Calculations.m