Polytechnic University of the Philippines
College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department
MACHINE
ELEMENTS 1
Assignment 2
Portfolio on Robert’s Mechanism
Submitted to:
ENGR. EDUAEL USAL
Submitted by:
BSME 3-2 GROUP 6
Leader: Baloloy, Nathaniele Rodolfo Jr. L.
Espartero, Edrick Mark B.
Nazareno, Agel Mark R.
Quilantang, Karlo D.
Sarmiento, Christian S.
Toledo, Alonica Mae G.
1. History
• During the late seventeenth century (before the development of the milling machine),
under the manufacturing sector, it was extremely challenging to machine straight and
achieve flat surfaces on objects needed as mechanical parts for certain function, thus
good prismatic pairs without backlash were not easy to make (Apps, 2015).
• The gap between design plans and empirical process of materializing of such were still
at disparity as it would require greater time and mastery in order to produce acceptable
accuracy for instrument makers; thus, only few quantities are being produced.
• Victorian Engineers, similarly, were having problems with creating straight line with their
mechanisms. They usually require constraints on pistons in a steam engine in order to
move on a straight line, with this, they sought for solutions on how to draw straight line
without reference edge (Sangwin, n.d.). In addition, machining accuracy is of high
importance during this time as steam leakage and overwhelming friction within the
engine is a problem being constantly encountered (Lipson, 2008).
Figure 1.1: Newcomen Engine (1747); uses chain which can only pull in one direction, when engines were
developed to push and pull, this approach no longer worked (inefficient).
• With James Watt’s initial proposition for the need of straight-line mechanisms during the
year 1784, as he saw the inefficiencies of piston rod having chains and perpendicular
guides in order to move on a straight line, he had a glimpse of causing piston rods to
move up and down perpendicularly by only fixing it to a piece of iron upon the beam
(Ferguson, 2008).
Figure 1.2: First approximate straight-line linkage (Watt’s Mechanism) (1784) invented by James Watt
• This led to the continuous conceptualization and development of straight-line
mechanisms initially inspired by the approximate straight-line mechanism concept of
Watt’s linkage. With this, further development was made by Richard Roberts (1789-
1864) as he discovered another approximate solution, based on a four-bar mechanism.
Figure 1.3: Approximate straight-line linkage (before 1841) attributed to Richard Roberts by Robert Willis.
From A. B. Kempe, How to Draw a Straight Line (London, 1877, p. 10).
• Richard Roberts (figure 1.2) was a Welsh patternmaker and engineer whose
development of high-precision machine tools contributed to the birth of production
engineering and mass production.
Figure 1.4: Portrait of Richard Roberts made by Edward Villiers Rippingille
• In 1825, he invented the self-acting spinning mule and improved version of the power
loom. Other than textile equipment, the machinist also made numerous contributions to
the craft of precision mechanics. These included metal-planing machines, lathes, screw
cutting machines and gearing machinery. Among these inventions all incorporated his
Robert’s straight-line mechanism which were necessary elements for their given
functions (Riutort, 1996).
Figure 1.5: Automatic Spinning Mule Cotton Manufacture; using an automatic spinning mule of the type devised
by Richard Roberts in 1825. Wellcome Library, London.
Figure 1.6: Lathe Designed by Richard Roberts; displayed at Science Museum, London.
• According to Britannica.com, “in 1840s he devised automatic machinery for punching
patterns of holes in bridge and boiler plate, which is of great contribution to the
manufacturing industry.
2. Configuration
Proper Arrangement of Links
In figure 2 shows Robert’s mechanism which is a four-bar linkage, the cranks AB and
CD, and connecting link BP and CP are equal. The BPC blade is in the shape of an isosceles
triangle which means two sides are equal: BP and CP. In addition, the crank AB is parallel and
equal to the connecting link CP, also, crank CD and connecting link BP. Connecting rod BC is
half as long as the distance between point A and point D.
Figure 2: Proper Arrangement of links in Roberts’ Mechanism drawn using linkage application.
To summarize Robert’s mechanism
AB = BP = CP = CD
and
AD = 2 BC
Number of links, joints and pairs
Based on figure 2, Robert’s mechanism consists of 4 linkages, (1) ground or frame Point
A and Point D, (2) Point A and Point B, (3) Point B and Point C and lastly (4) Point C and Point
D.
Figure 3: Disassembly of the links of Robert’s Mechanism.
The mechanism used binary link which has 2 nodes and tertiary link which has 3 nodes.
Binary links are AB and CD, and the tertiary link is the triangle BPC. It has 4 lower pairs which
are A, B, C, and D and 0 higher pair.
Degrees of freedom and mobility
By using the Gruebler’s Equation, we can compute the degrees of freedom of Robert's
Mechanism
𝐅 = 𝟑(𝐧 − 𝟏) − 𝟐𝐥 − 𝐡
Robert’s Mechanism consist of 4 links, 4 lower pairs and 0 higher pairs
Solution:
n = 4, l = 4, h = 0
𝐅 = 𝟑(𝟒 − 𝟏) − 𝟐(𝟒) − 𝟎
𝐅=𝟗−𝟖
𝐅=𝟏
Therefore, the degrees of freedom of Robert's Mechanism is 1
Figure 4: Motion simulation of Robert’s Mechanism using Linkage Application.
As the crank AB in Robert's mechanism oscillates, the point P traces an approximate
straight line.
3. Working Principle
Robert’s mechanism converts a rotational input motion into an approximate straight-line
output motion. The rotating or oscillating input motion may come from one of the motors (A or
B) connected to the cranks (AB and CD) which may swing to right until AB and BC are in a
straight-line, and also swing back to the right until BC and DC are in a straight line. (Doughtie
& James, 1954).
a. b.
c.
Figure 5: Kinematic Diagram representation for the description of the working principle of Roberts Mechanism.
(a) Drawing point at center, (b) Linkage at extreme position right, (c) Linkage at extreme position left.
4. Industrial Applicaiton
Robert’s mechanism is a symmetrical four-bar linkage that produces a straight-line
motion under the same classification as Chebyshev’s, and primarily Watt’s mechanism which
is used in steam engines. Unlike other approximate straight-line generating mechanisms,
Robert’s mechanism has an extension from the coupler to the position perpendicular to the
coupler midpoint and the endpoint of that extension is what traces the straight-line motion.
Moreover, because it is dependent on the coupler, Robert’s linkage is normally used in
mechanisms not based on cranks and rockers but mainly on the coupler.
Generally, the principle of linkage is essential in the production of machines and other
equipment used in economic activities. In this sense, Robert’s mechanism provides industrial
uses with or without the integration of other mechanisms. Some of its application are as follows:
1. Hand operated controllers – There are a lot of controllers used in various
applications may it be for controlling operating remote systems such as trains or
robots which follows a standard mechanism; however, this specific hand grip
controller (Fig. 6) allows a linear motion using a modified Robert’s mechanism. The
modification is that by adding a second a linkage connected to the hand grip, the
rotational movement produced by Robert’s mechanism will be countered by the
rotational movement produced on the hand grip by the added linkage.
Figure 6: Three degree of freedom translational axis hand controller mechanism by Israel Menahem
and James Bacon
2. Robotics – Robert’s mechanism may be applied in the design and construction of
robots. Shown below are the animation of a single project robot with a similar motion-
if not exactly, according to Robert’s mechanism.
a. b. c.
Figure 7: 3D Model of LARM Waist Trunk: (a) Walking, (b) Manipulation, (c) Lateral Bending Movement.
3. Mechanical walkers – These are vehicles that walk on legs rather than wheels, thus
the name walking vehicles. They are constructed with one to more than eight legs
that provide trajectories using different properties. Various linkages are used as leg
mechanisms, for instance, Trotbot’s and Jansens, and the example below shows a
strider linkage that incorporates a four-bar walking linkage- which may also include
Robert’s mechanism.
Figure 8: A Four-Bar Walking Linkage with a Shorter Rocker bar.
Figure 9: Motion Path of Mechanical Walker.
Figure 10: Actual Bipedal Robot with application of mechanical walkers.
4. Horizontal mill engine - Before the rise of electric motors in the 1930’s, mill engines
were a popular source of power for use industrially. They ran slowly, and usually the
valves were operated through some form of “trip” gear allowing the steam to be cut
off at a precisely defined point in the stroke. As a consequence, they were highly
economical of steam and their speed could be closely governed. The horizontal mill
engine below follows a straight-line motion using Robert’s mechanism.
Figure 11: Actual Working Horizontal Mill Engine
5. RLRBML – A planar reconfigurable linear (rectilinear) rigid-body motion linkage
(RLRBML) is a linkage that is able to produce linear rigid-body motion by
transforming rotational motion. It is achieved by combining (a) Robert’s linkage and
a (b) double parallelogram linkage.
a. b.
c.
Figure 12: Mechanism involved in RLRBML: (a) Robert’s Linkage, (b) Double Parallelogram Linkage, (c)
Combination of Robert’s and Double Parallelogram Linkage.
Figure 13: Utilization of RLRBML: (a) Motion Mode, (b) Singularity Position, (c) Lockup Mode.
The RLRBML provides a variety of potential applications including the linear motion
guiding mechanism, linear actuator, linear positioning stage, drawing tools and pseudo rigid-
body model of the compliant translational joint in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems/Precision
Engineering (Hao et. al., 2014).
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
With the given characteristics and applications of Robert’s mechanism, the following are
the recommendations and comments for the improvement of the mechanism:
1. It would be highly recommended that when incorporating the linkage to one’s system in
order to meet certain functions, it is a must to plan out the full detail of the design using
3D mechanical simulation or even simple linkage simulation software in order to properly
design the system in order to mitigate errors that would compromise the movement of
the mechanism.
2. Precision of dimensions as it is being incorporated unto the system is of high value, any
changes in length and height of the crank can significantly change the output of the
linkage.
3. In Robotics or other applications requiring flexible yet sturdy motion using Robert’s
Mechanism, introduction of ball joints in between links (more than 2) to create multi-axial
joints for motion can be incorporated
4. Along with replacement of simple links with struts (suspensions) would ease the stress
within joints and allows for smoother motion particularly in maned-vehicles/ robots which
requires great care on the passenger or internal components.
The following will meet specific functions/ purpose efficiently if used on the right conditions.
REFERENCES
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Brighthubengineering.com. 2008. Chebyshev's Straight-Line Mechanism & Robert's Straight-
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two/?fbclid=IwAR2Yg39qDC5IqMAgLNDTqmstNhlo3CuEkAulKPCkeTsK_e9yiPQcIKIlFsk
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