Sheth-Uicker Convention Revisited -- A Normal Form for Specifying Mechanisms

Abstract :

In this survey, different conventions for specifying kinematics of mechanisms and their properties are reviewed with emphasis on the convention developed by Sheth and Uicker in 1971. This convention partitions displacements in joint- and link displacements and decomposes these displacements into three axial screw displacements. Because of this systematic construction, the convention of Sheth and Uicker features several practical and theoretical preferences which are reflected in this article. For doing so, two comparisons are conducted: first, the Sheth-Uicker convention is compared to other kinematic conventions. Second, the convention - as the Dual Euler Angle representation of finite spatial displacements - is placed into context of three other popular displacemenent representations. For enabling these comparisons in a rather self-consistent text, notations of necessary entites are assembled, adapted, or newly defined. In general, this article is intended as a contribution to the development of a common normal form for kinematics of mechanisms.

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120716_sheth_uicker_convention_revisited_ResearchReport_Bongardt.pdf