Design of Mechanisms to Trace Plane Curves
This paper describes a mechanism design methodology that assembles standard components to trace plane curves that have a Fourier series parameterization. This approach can be used to approximate complex plane curves to interpolate image boundaries constructed from points. We describe three ways to construct a mechanism that generates a curve from a Fourier series parameterization. One uses Scotch yoke linkages for each term of Fourier series which are added using a belt drive. The second approach uses a coupled serial chain for each coordinate Fourier parameterization. The third method uses one constrained coupled serial chain to trace a specified plane curve. This work can be viewed as a version of the Kempe Universality Theorem that states that a linkage exists that can trace any plane algebraic curve. In our case, we include belts and pulleys, and obtain linkages that trace curves that have Fourier parameterizations.