Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
In a digital computer system a method of dynamic simulation of a mechanism having a plurality of components, comprising the steps of: a. determining kinematic information of the mechanism; b. finding the instantaneous screw axes of at least some of the mechanism components; c. calculating the angular and linear velocities of at least some of the mechanism components as ratios of distances of component center of mass to respective screw axes; d. determining kinetic coenergy terms of the mechanism using the angular and linear velocities; e. formulating a representation of the dynamics of the mechanism using the kinetic coenergy terms, and the kinematic information as the potential energy term; f. by integrating the accelerations over time; and g. simulating the dynamic behavior of the mechanism over time, given the starting values of position and velocities.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
135 words
In a digital computer system a method of dynamic simulation of a mechanism having a plurality of components, comprising the steps of: a. determining kinematic information of the mechanism; b. finding the instantaneous screw axes of at least some of the mechanism components; c. calculating the angular and linear velocities of at least some of the mechanism components as ratios of distances of component center of mass to respective screw axes; d. determining kinetic coenergy terms of the mechanism using the angular and linear velocities; e. formulating a representation of the dynamics of the mechanism using the kinetic coenergy terms, and the kinematic information as the potential energy term; f. by integrating the accelerations over time; and g. simulating the dynamic behavior of the mechanism over time, given the starting values of position and velocities.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1, the representation of the dynamics being a lagrangian representation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1, the representation being a lagrangian representation of the form: ##EQU16## where the first term is the kinetic coenergy term, the second term is the potential energy term, and Ξ is the sum of any nonconservative forces.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, the kinematic information being determined as a function of generalized position coordinates describing the mechanism components.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 4, including determining the potential energy term using the kinematic information including calculating for one component the change in position of the mass center as a function of the change of the generalized position coordinates for the mechanism.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
78 words
The method of claim 4, including determining the potential energy term using the kinematic information where the change in position for a component is: ##EQU17## ΔP 1 =Change in magnitude of position of component 1's center of mass relative to a change in some generalized position coordinate. v 1 =linear velocity of component 1's center of mass v 2 =linear velocity of component 2's center of mass ΔP 2 =known change in magnitude of position of component 2.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 3, where the kinetic coenergy term is determined as follows, the derivative with respect to Θ is: ##EQU18## and the time derivative of this quantity is: ##EQU19## where the j's and k's are ratios of distances to instantaneous screw axes.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 7, where the time derivatives of the j's and k's, ##EQU20## are reduced to the derivatives of the j's and k's with respect to position Θ: ##EQU21##
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1, including compiling steps (a-g) into a plan, said plan being iteratively reused during simulation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
128 words
In a digital computer, a system for simulating the dynamics of a rigid-body mechanism, comprising: a kinematic simulator for determining a potenial energy term for the mechanism using a degrees of freedom analysis in terms of the generalized position coordinates of the mechanism; means for determining a kinetic coenergy term using information on the instantaneous screw axes for at least some of the bodies of the mechanism; a lagrangian constructor for formulating a lagrangian representation of the dynamics of the mechanism using the potential energy term and kinetic coenergy term; a plan generator which solves the lagrangian representation for accelerations to build a plan which simulates the dynamics when integrated over time; and a video display for showing said simulation of the dynamics of the mechanism over time.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
128 words
In a digital computer, a system for simulating the dynamics of a rigid-body mechanism, comprising: a kinematic simulator for determining a potenial energy term for the mechanism using a degrees of freedom analysis in terms of the generalized position coordinates of the mechanism; means for determining a kinetic coenergy term using information on the instantaneous screw axes for at least some of the bodies of the mechanism; a lagrangian constructor for formulating a lagrangian representation of the dynamics of the mechanism using the potential energy term and kinetic coenergy term; a plan generator which solves the lagrangian representation for accelerations to build a plan which simulates the dynamics when integrated over time; and a video display for showing said simulation of the dynamics of the mechanism over time.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system according to claim 10, including an integrator for iteratively reusing the plan to produce new accelerations which are integrated over time, simulating the mechanism dynamics over time.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 10, the kinetic coenergy term determining means operable for calculating angular and linear velocities as ratios of distances between points on the mechanism and the screw axes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 12, the kinetic coenergy term determining means operable for calculating the time derivatives of the screw axes.