Articulated Mechanims Basis. Applications

The articulated quadrilateral and articulated systems in general have countless applications in all sectors of industry: machine tools, automotive, aviation, agriculture, robotics, medicine... Applications can be grouped into four families:

• the mechanism that allows a point to describe an algebraic curve ;

• the mechanism enabling the exact realization of a given function;

• the mechanism for approximating a given function;

• the mechanism that amplifies mechanical actions.

For each group, detailed methods are given to lead the reader through to practical applications, as the developments can be complex. The results have always been formulated using readily available computational tools (MAPLE, MATLAB...), making them easy to exploit.