Development of a software library of functions for analysis of spatial mechanisms

An integrated method for symbolical derivation of Eqs and numerical computations using dual numbers for analysis of spatial mechanisms is presented in this paper. The formulation is based on 3×3 dual transformation matrices and derived symbolically using the Mathematica^TM software package. Based on the solution procedure presented in this paper, a software library of functions for displacement analysis of spatial mechanisms has been developed. Functions in this software library can be readily used in theC^H language environment, where dual number is treated as a first-class object. Displacement analysis of the RCRCR spatial mechanisms is used as an example to illustrate the solution procedure and programming details.