A mechanical linkage is a system or assembly of rigid bodies that are linked together. We can study the movement in the assembly by changing the geometry. Mechanical linkage is very interesting because it enables us to produce complicated motion with simple linkages. There are numerous of real world examples where mechanical linkage is used ranging from a pumpjack to a knee joint and from a locker plier to a pantograph.

Solvespace is an excellent tool to design and study such assemblies. As an introduction to this topic I’ll design a simple rigid body assembly, the scissor linkage. After I created a system of multiple linked scissors I’ll use the analyses tools of Solvespace to study the movement. Furthermore I’ll use these tools to export a csv file and use Gnuplot to create a graph with it.

Solvespace is free and open source (GPLv3) and can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

Gnuplot is a command-line program that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions, data, and data fits. Official source code to gnuplot is freely redistributable, but modified versions thereof are not. The gnuplot license instead recommends distribution of patches against official releases, optionally accompanied by officially released source code. Binaries may be distributed along with the unmodified source code and any patches applied thereto. More information about Gnuplot van be found here: http://gnuplot.info/

This video was edited with the great free and open source programs OpenShot and Audacity.