Mechanism mobility and a local dimension test (Q634963)

The determination of the mobility of mechanisms for the assembly mode of a given configuration can be established by identifying the rank of a matrix of higher-order derivatives, known as a Macaulay matrix, central to local dimension tests, described by \textit{D. J. Bates} et al. [SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 47, No. 5, 3608--3623 (2009; Zbl 1211.14066)]. A software code from the algebraic geometry, called LocDimFinder, is available at the website \url{http://www.nd.edu-somnese/bertin} and can be applied in the kinematic domain. The required inputs are a description of the mechanism given by its loop equation, a description of the assembly configuration, and an upper bound on the order of the analysis. The local dimension test treats the motion variables as complex variables and, if the mechanism has several assembly modes with different degrees of freedom, the complex and real dimensionalities of the assembly configuration can be different, e.g., in the example of a cube-based spherical 12-bar assembly. Several examples illustrate this new method of computing mobilities, and the mathematical meaning of the computed results is explained. Special care must be taken to distinguish between a finite degree of freedom and a high-multiplicity infinitesimal degree of freedom for which the Macaulay corank sequence stabilizes at a greater depth than the prespecified depth bound.