Kinematics of Cam Mechanisms USyCaMs: A Software Package USyCaMs: A Software Package

Introduction

In the last twenty years or so, computer graphics has become a fundamental tool for the study of mechanisms, as made apparent by the software available in this area. We can cite IMP (Integrated Mechanisms Program) as one of the earliest software packages developed for the analysis of arbitrary linkages [ShU72]. A few years later KINSIN III, a package meant for the synthesis of mechanisms, was introduced [RuK77]. The graphical part of these early packages consisted essentially of 2-D lines. Further mechanism software packages, with improvements in their graphics, have been produced, such as LINCAGES [ErG77], MINN-DWELL [KER87] and SIXPAQ [GoA91].

Given that modern workstations provide a highly integrated environment for computation and interaction, our goal in the development of USyCaMs was that it should be intuitively easy to use and as general as possible. Following these criteria, the user of USyCaMs need not be a CAD expert, although a familiarity with the theory of cam mechanisms is expected, in order to better exploit the capabilities of USyCaMs. Solving complex problems, like undercutting, with visualization aids is reduced to moving the mouse around the appropriate menus.

USyCaMs has many applications. It can be used to give an introduction to cam mechanisms in an undergraduate course, or to solve complex design problems involving, e.g., undercutting of spatial cam mechanisms, in a graduate design course. Furthermore, USyCaMs can be regarded as a sophisticated design tool for industrial applications involving dimensioning, balancing, dynamic analysis, simulation and finite-element analysis (FEA) for stress, strain and thermal calculations. Note that USyCaMs provides a database for useful mesh generation in FEA, but is limited to the handling and production of geometric and kinematic information.