Dynamic Mechanisms made possible by SyMechT Many engineers are unaccustomed to designing and building moving parts because conventional design tools lack that capability. Mechanism design becomes a hard and painful process. Engineers want to move the parts on-screen and see how different parts will interact. Conventional tool limitations force the designer back to an iterative Design-Build-Test-Change process which inherently is unable to yield the optimal solution for a mechanism. The result is only something which the engineer thinks approximates the specifications. The part must be built and tested, adjustments made, then built and tested again, with still more adjustments, and this process repeated until it seems a close enough fit to the functional requirements. SyMech-4,T with SyMech'sT patent-pending technology, captures the mechanism as it is supposed to be - an organic entity which moves and interacts with its surroundings. SyMech-4T immediately adjusts the mechanism to yield the optimal solution for any given set of key functional points, instantaneously handling all the complexity of mechanism design. In SyMech-4T, the design is inherently elastic, morphing immediately as the engineer drags and changes functional points on the screen. SyMech-4T animates the mechanism instantly as the engineer is dragging and reshaping it. SyMech-4T displays in realtime the motion path (known as the coupler curve or solution curve), and in realtime can tell you about the physics, forces, and mechanical advantage. When you design a mechanism with SyMech-4T, there are three key stages that SyMech-4T gives you: Realtime SynthesisT, Realtime Solution Curve, and Realtime Kinematic Analysis. 
Realtime Synthesis™
Synthesis occurs after you have specified the ground joints and key functional points, allowing SyMech-4™ to relate its built-in mechanical template to the actual mechanism you are designing. SyMech-4™ adjusts joint points to enable the optimal solution for those criteria and then changes the synthesis in realtime as you make on-screen adjustments. The ability to immediately generate the optimal solution is the first of the many advantages that SyMech-4™ will give you.
Built-in mechanisms
SyMech-4™ has several types of built-in mechanisms (see box for details):
Traditional: position, path, function (also known as an angular specification)
Non-traditional: crank, straight-line, and parallel mechanism
Type |
position |
path |
function or angular |
crank |
straight-line |
parallel |
free sketch |
|
How mechanism will be synthesized |
to the position of the coupler links |
to a given path prescribed by points from inside the CAD application |
to input and output angles |
to the angle through which an A-B link travels when a motor driver rotates the part 360° through the two link positions, A and B |
to travel through a straight line, where the line of travel is prescribed for any of the following linkages:
· Watt
· Hoeken
· Chebyschev
· Roberts |
where one link is parallel to itself throughout the entire range of motion |
to a free sketch drag-and-drop function |
|
Realtime Solution Curve
This is a key SyMech-4™ feature. Once the built-in mechanism has been synthesized to the designer's specifications, SyMech-4™ will display a realtime solution curve. The engineer is able to immediately see the range of motion for the part (as well as having SyMech™ automatically animate the movement in realtime as the engineer moves functional points on-screen). The engineer is able to see parts interact with their surroundings and ascertain any potential interference, all without having to build an actual part and test it!
Realtime Kinematic Analysis
SyMech-4™ can perform various analyses in realtime to give the velocity, acceleration, and force at any joint. Additionally, the engineer is able to specify a force vector at a joint and determine how this will change the forces on a mechanism. SyMech-4™, as a standard feature, has gravity as a pre-set force, but this can be changed for zero-gravity designs.
Installation SyMech-4™ installs easily into Pro/Engineer. It can be installed locally or be run from a network-shared drive. The installation program does not require a reboot.
System Requirements Windows2000 or higher computer with PII 500Mhz CPU, 128MB DRAM, 40 MB disk space, Pro/Engineer (2000i, 20000i2, and 2001, and Wildfire).
SyMech, Synthesis Software, SyMech-4, SyMech-N, FunctionFirst, Infinite Synthesis Solutions, SyMech Multi-Bar, SyMech 4-bar, Multi-Bar, Unleash your innovation, the SyMech Logo, and Synthesis Build are all trademarks of SyMech, Inc. Pro/ENGINEER is a registered trademark of Parametric Technology Corporation.
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