Quintic splines for kinematic design (Q1110236)

The paper introduces a very general spline construction useful in kinematic design. Given kinematic data in the form of values and derivatives, a spline formulation is employed where knot positions can be used as design parameters to alter the characteristics of the motion satisfying the kinematic constraints. The quintic spline provides sufficient smoothness in most applications. A B-spline basis is employed for this construction because it is the most flexible and computationally stable. Examples in CAM mechanism motion specification are discussed. This method gives an infinite number of solutions for most problems and can provide a very significant design aid in many situations.