Ever wish you had something fictitious, abstract because maybe you're the first to ever need it, and very much something dreamt up as from a far away land where the tool is always right and everything fits and you're simply content? That's what you have found here in this nook, with this software. Couldn't have written it better than reality, with a name like Rector, linkage software just sounds so right, like my childhood....like "Erector Set!" This is wonderfully received by myself, and humbly thank you a thousand times, and my family will speak your name in the halls of Elysium! On a more serious note, Thank you very much. I really appreciate the drawing feature. I'm curious regarding the playback... If it's currently possible, awesome! But I think I would really enjoy seeing how changing a link or anchor point would affect the resulting movement, and through drawing and playback, if one could manipulate the pieces directly and witness the resulting effect in real time, shifting to the new motion, could be extremely beneficial in intuiting, or visualizing mechanisms' form, and function. Anyhow, if that's already possible, I just haven't figured it out yet. thanks again!
Ah, the elusive instant feedback/playback feature. I tried it once but the data within the software can't handle doing the simulation while dragging things with the mouse. Changing that data would be surprisingly difficult. I do have it on my list to try to do the simulation after ending a drag operation but being busy with my day job keeps me from experimenting too much with the Linkage software these days. You've got me a bit excited to investigate this feature again though. Thanks for the inspirational words. If I get something to work, I'll post about it in various places. Right now, I have been focusing what little time I have on making a Mac version of the app. I'm close to having the editor work. It's along process porting 30,000 lines of source code to a new language on a new system. I'll have to think hard about the simulation-while-drag idea before I get too much further since I use the same data structure on the Mac as on the PC. Thanks again for the kind words. -Dave
+Özkan Özarslan Since the software has been somewhat functional for more than a few years, I thought that it was about time I got off my ass and made a video tutorial. Better late than never I suppose.
Hi i've used linkage for a mechanism project. One feedback i'd like to give is with regard to locking the positions of anchors and connectors. I found exact dimensioning of the links very difficult to do, when inserting a new dimensions for a link the connectors move to compensate and it is not possible to lock the connector's position. I'd like to have connector and anchor positions able to be locked so that dimensioning of links is more controllable. The interface and tutorial has been very convenient and the program has been fun to use thus far. Thank you very much for all your hard work ^^
Thanks for the feedback. I was working on locking connectors. I thought I had updated the download page that use the version that has that feature. But it is a new feature and might not work as expected all of the time. I'll see what I can do to improve it.
I'm glad you like the software. My email address is in the "about" box and in the PDF documentation. Feel free to let me know if you have any issues or other feedback.
hi! :D fancy seeing some others here for the same mech. & Dyn. assignment? cool, I wish you all good luck! ^_^ I'm just trying to learn this program now :P
You can export a CSV file with information about specific connectors, those that draw their path, and then extrapolate from that data. Position and speed are there, and acceleration can be computed from those. I'm unsure how to calculate force, given that the elements have no mass. But it does seem like output force as a ratio to input force could be computed based on simple leverage calculations - it's just that math is not my field of expertise.
Use a negative value for the RPM. Check out the PDF documentation file that comes with the program. it should have that sort of information in it. If not, let me know and I'll fix it.
I would like to add other languages but these old desktop programs are written using old C++ code and are hard to localize. I'll investigate it some more and see if there's something I can do. Even then, the translations will all be from Google Translate so who knows what the button names will end up being!
David Rector Thank you for your reply. I can provide you with a Chinese translation. You need to give me a document. For all the button words, I will find the closest Chinese word. Each word corresponds to your English word. Send it to you
@@ARTLJX069 Thanks. I will do that as soon as I figure out how to make the software pick the correct language from the system settings and show the proper text automatically.
Menu "Connect" = "Link", @2:49 do what it says won't work, no need to click "Join" and to run the design you need to right click on the first anchor, click properties then "Rotating Input Anchor of RPM" followed by OK then run.
The first link that was dropped into the mechanism was a rotating input so there should be no need to change the properties of any connector. Yes, the "Connect" feature changed to "Link" a long time after this video was made, if that what's you mean about the "connect" = "link". Sorry fi that gave you trouble. Feel free to email me with any questions or suggestions. I may also be misunderstanding what you are describing here so you can tell me more if I got it wrong. Thanks. Dave
@@rectorsquid Just trying to help others, I thought the button had moved at first then tried it to see what would happen. Clicking run didn't work until I had entered properties and configured it. Thanks for the interesting program, I'm looking forward to using it in a project I'm working on.
You can set a connector to draw a path and then once it's done, you can export the information to a file as a set of points. You could then use that file to do the calculations for acceleration, speed, or anything else you can think to calculate from those points.
Perhaps you can find my email address in the software or documentation and send a sketch so I can see what you want to do. Your comment is not enough information for me to give you very good help.
Hello, thanks for the tutorial, please can you tellme how install the program, i down loaded the software from your site (5mb), when i go to install a text appears saying its not compatible whit the prossesor, i have a i3.
You would need to get the version that is for Windows XP. It will run on newer versions of Windows but doesn't use some features that are only in the newer versions. it is the only 32-bit version available right now.
Hey, glad I found your program! I could go I further and talk with some KI programmers to implement a function, to synthesise the linkages from a given path. Additionally with speed and force conditions for each point on the given path. But this is of course very extra :) please let me know if you like the idea, maybe we can figure something out.
Synthesis from a path is something I would love to do myself. Now that I have splines working in the software, it should be easy enough to use a genetic algorithm to find an optimal mechanism. Or rather, find an optimal configuration for an existing mechanism, since I don't think there's an easy way to pick 4-bar vs. 5-bar, etc., based on the spline shape. But I could be totally wrong and I even recall seeing some scientific papers about just such a thing. There's no way to show force data without there being mass to the links. And to have mass, there needs to be minimally, a center of mass, and maximally, an actual definition of the overall shape and material of the links. This sort of thing is far outside of my comfort zone for math and also more that I could ever manage to do in my spare time on a hobby project. But the software already does calculate speed and acceleration info as a byproduct of the simulation and it's just a matter of finding out how to show this, that is the think keeping me from adding it tot he software. Feel free to find my email address in the "about" box or in the documentation and send me email with your ideas. I am always open to suggestions (and even complaints).
Thank you for your video. Is it possible draw the path that describes one point in link 2? I would like to compare the path between two similar mechanisms and look which is better.I would like to see at the same time the two paths. Thank you so much.
If you select the properties for any connector, there is an option to draw the motion path. You can compare those drawings visually when the simulation is run. Once the path is drawn, you can export it using the Export item in the File menu.
This is a rapid prototyping tool and doesn't have a lot of analysis features. The only way to get any sort of velocity, position, etc., information is to create a motion path and then export it and use spreadsheet tools to calculate the needed information. I would love to hear more about how you want to use the velocity, position, acceleration information since I won;y developers the software to make fairly slow-moving mechanisms that I build in my garage. Feel free to find my email address in the "about" box or in the PDF documentation ad send me any note or ideas you have about how I could add features in a way that makes them useful.
You can find my email address in the documentation and in the "about" box. Send me a copy of the mechanism you created and I'll let you know what's wrong. One common problem is not making that first anchor a rotating input anchor. Sometimes people skip the step at 2:45 and the connectors only look joined.
I'm glad you like it. If you ever need help or have suggestions or complaints, feel free to find my email address in the program About box or in the documentation, and send me your thoughts. -Dave
This software is awesome, thank you!. Is there a way to impose constraints on a rotating input connector (i.e. the crank only swings between 0 and 220 degrees).
In the properties box for the input connector, you can enter a start angle and a limit angle. The limit is the maximum angle in degrees that the input will rotate. The start angle is the angle from zero to the limit where the movement starts. The start angle doesn't make the mechanism jump, it simply treats the current position in the editor as that angle and then the movement moves from there to the limit and back all the way to zero before moving "forward" again. In other words, if you enter 45 as the start and 90 as the limit, the movement starts and moves the connected links 45 degrees before reversing direction, at which point they travel 90 degrees the opposite direction before changing direction again and moving 90 degrees again to the limit. I hope that makes sense; Try it and it should be apparent what it is doing.
Hello firstly really thank for building such nice application. I wonder if we are able to draw customized profile and linkage that has various shapesand see the results? Also are we able to define tip speeds and make some calculations?
I'm not sure what you are asking about. You can certainly create all sorts of complicated mechanisms and simulate them. You can see other videos on my channel. You cannot define tip speeds because the speed of every connector is affected by the speed of the motor; There is no backward calculation to figure out the motor speed from a tip speed - you would need to do that outside of this software somehow. It would be especially difficult to do because the speed of almost all connectors is not consistent and changes as angles change. The software would not be able to change the motor RPM as it runs in order to force a specific tip speed. The math for going from tip speed to motor RPM for the end of the crank on the motor should be fairly simple math though.
@@rectorsquid thanks for your kind reply... I mean can we draw a custom curve like a hook profile and make it as another connector linked one another and see if the whole machine works
@@rectorsquid hello David.. I would like to ask in other way around.. As a single linkage other than straight.. Can we for example draw a custom link with a shape of half circle or cam like shapes to simulate their contribution
It was a glitch on my website. I fixed it and it's working now for me. One bad bit of text in a configuration file for a website can bring the whole thing crumbling down.
Hi. I really like your software. It is easy to learn and very easy to build mechanism. Yesterday I tried to measure the arc length of a coupler curve, but didn't found a way to do so. Is it possible to measure the arc length of a coupler curve? Second I would like to know, if it is possible to write and add some own extensions, add-ins, macro or similiar to add some own features? Since I am a little Mechanism and Programming Nerd I would like to write some own features. Which Programming language have you used? I am familiar with C#, Phython and some Visual Basic. Currently I am working at an university and think it would be great to use the software for teaching.
I'm glad you like the software. Unfortunately, the arc length is not available anywhere. I will add it to a list of things to try to do but I don't think I can get that working since there is no way in the user interface to show that sort of thing right now. It might be possible for me to add a length value to the start point of a motion path that changes as the path is drawn but it would not be stable as long as the connector is moving - you would need to hit the pause button and then read the number after maybe stepping the simulation manually for a few steps to get the connector to the end of the arc. If I can do that quickly, I'll respond here. But if not, it might just show up as a feature a few months from now in a Beta app.
I added this experimentally. You can get a new installer here: www.rectorsquid.com/alpha/linkage.msi If you enable dimension, perhaps by tapping the "D" key, you will see dimensions for all of the elements (connectors, links, etc.) in the mechanism. Run the simulation with the dimensions visible and you will see the RPM of all of the connectors along with the length of the motion path for any connectors that are set to draw their motion path. it's an approximation since the program can only calculate the straight line distance between the simulation steps. The path lengths get more accurate the slower the mechanism moves (from slow inputs, not from single-stepping the simulation). Let me know if this is interesting and give you something you can use. Now that there are a few different things to show during the simulation, I might add a panel for selecting each one separately instead of including them with the dimensions.
@@rectorsquid Thanks for the quick response. I installed the new version and enabled the dimensions. The linear dimensions for the linkages are visible, but not for the motion Path. If you want I can write you an E-mail with a screenshot. Unfortunately I couldn't find one on your website. I know it is time consuming to add new features and this is not that important for myself, so please don't spend too much time in it. Just some suggestion how to add this feature: Perhaps by selecting the motion Path, you can change Color etc. and have a button that calculates the arc length manually or the user can export the points as .csv and do his own calculation with it. I don't know how you wrote the code, but maybe this is simpler. Which programming language are you using? I am interested in looking in the source code. Would you share it with me?
@@rectorsquid I know you have your own feature, that you want to add, but I want to give you some hints which features might be simple to implement and great for Visualization: - User can select or change the position of joint description (like in Geogebra) - User can change the optics of the link (vector arrow, ...). I guess this would be great for teachers so they can get the style familiar with their own graphics and faster for students to understand. - User can add TextBoxes to the screen and adjust size position etc.
@@rectorsquid is it possible to enter a precise length for a link? I tried to draw a circle with a precise diameter and fix the first link joint to center point and the second link joint to the point on the circumference of the circle. But this didn't work. The only way I can do this, is by entering the coordinates of the joint. From my Point of View it is a super important feature to be able to enter a precise length to the link.
When a mechanism would break a link in real life, the software will tell you that the link is mangled. Find my email address in the software and send me the mechanism and I can tell you what is wrong. I am assuming that you are not just making a copy of the mechanism in this video.
wow sir david really nice programme , i was using it to complete a work which involve making a working robotic arm to find how it moves , but i cant seem to understand how to do it , i have the picture , dimension and angle of it but i still dont know how to apply it in this software , can you help me ? thanks in advance
@@rectorsquid where to find your email address ? I search the blog but couldnt gind it , i have though send an email via the contact me part , i hope im correct
@@Ace-rx5nh I replied to your contact form. For anyone else finding this reply, my email address is not easy to find on my blog but there is an "about" box in the software that shows it. it is also in the PDF file that documents the software.
Downloaded the program to play around, viewed tutorials and users guide, unfortunally, annyway how I try, neither the links / connectors holds distances, measurements or constraints so impossible to design what so ever? Nevertheless its seems so easy viewing tutorials?
When you say "holds distances", I suspect you are talking about in the editor. If the simulation is failing then I need an example so I can fix the bug. For the editor, this is not a CAD program where you specify constraints and positions and relationships between the links, this is a rapid prototyping tool where you simply drag around the connectors and see how the mechanism works in different configurations. If I'm mistaken and there's a bug or some other issue that I can fix, please find my email address in the software "about" box or in the PDF document and send me a note with more specific information - It's hard to do support and make improvements without more concrete examples of a problem. Many people have sent me data about their final designs and pictures of physical prototypes so for a specific subset of users who work in a specific way, it works as expected. Folding wings for cosplay isn't rocket science but it's not an easy problem to solve :) I have also had a few people say it's the hardest software they ever used, which surprises me since it's patterned off of illustration programs like Corel Draw and Illustrator, but is perfectly fine - not everyone works in the same way. It would be great if we can figure out how to get things working for you or at least come to a conclusion that this is just not the type of user interface that suits your needs
@@rectorsquid thx fr reply, will send you a few files I was just "experimenting" on. Just to be sure, I downloaded version 3.11.3 64 bits on OS windows 10 would that give problems? And another strange thing, when I load an example file those work just fine? So things just don't ad up, I tried everything and don't understand what could be the problem?
Nope, sorry. The Linkage software is for rapid prototyping of linkage mechanisms. There's no physics, gravity, springs, or anything clever like that in the software. Just linkages.
Is there a rotating input anchor? Please find my email address in the software or documentation and send me a copy of the mechanism if you are not sure.
When you do the "join", do you have two connectors selected? Are they two connectors on two different links? Feel free to find my email address in the software and send me some screen shots right when you are experiencing the trouble. Also, try the step-by-step instruction in the PDF documentation file that came with the software. Maybe the text will make more sense written down and not spoken by a computer voice.
Nope, sorry. I haven't figured out yet how to make that work. it's not mathematically hard but the user interface needs to be just right and I haven't figured it out.
@@rectorsquid Even what you did so far is beyond my programming skills, I still hope you also find time to add that one too in the future. My students ask for it :D. Best regards.
@@endtasid, Thanks. The great thing about computer programming is in how you can, like a great painter, just make one small brush stroke at time to come up with a masterpiece (or at least something passable like the Linkage software). Can you find my email address in the software or documentation and send me some info about what types of mechanisms you would design with kremayer gears? I could make a quick example but I would like to see if there's something more interesting that I can't think of that can't be made to work some other way.
@@rectorsquid Although I'm an electronical engineer, as my job I need to give some engineering lectures to industrial design students, their future job will mostly be drawing and design related so the mechanisms we do are very simple , eg, car window wipers, simple toys with cams etc and some mechanisms i find on thang10146's channel which I think are related to some design details of furniture etc. nothing fancy. simple cremayer mechanism is ok. to incorporate some cams on linkage sim would also be great.
why is this SW distributed only as an executable installer? Installers are very annoying as they clog up system; they are acceptable only for software which needs deep access to operating system features, but this is "just" a calculator, so why isn't it distributed a s simple zip file?
Zip files do not show up in the control panel list of installed apps and therefore cannot be uninstalled with a single click of a button. Zip files cannot be digitally signed with a security certificate so the only way to know the software is not malware is to run it or manually ask for info about it. An installer says the developer name before installation. Also, Mai installer files were all the rage 20 years ago when this was designed. Finally, this is the only time in 20 years that someone had a dislike for the installer so changing that has been a very low priority. If you send me an email, I would happily send you a zip file. I had never heard of an installer giving an app any deep accesses to the operating system. It merely provided an easy way to manage the installation so that a user didn’t unknowingly start using an older version of the app since installers also provide version checking.
@@rectorsquid thanks, but I manually unpack installers using Uniextract2. Annoying, but less annoying than a misterious executable messing up with registry, system folders and who knows what else.
@@jumpjack2 I suppose that if you don't trust the developer and suspect they are doing evil to your machine then that makes sense. The Linkage software make no registry changes other than what is required to allow for the app to be uninstalled. I have never before encountered someone who trusted an EXE file but didn't trust the MSI installer file. Note that both are digitally signed by me using a certificate that required that I show multiple forms of ID, including a passport, and that Microsoft knows where I live and can at any time revoke my certificate if I do evil. If you see that there is a new version available for the Linkage program and want it, feel free to ask me (in email please) for a zip file. I'll happily send it. My email address is in the "about" box and in the PDF file.
Can you tell me how you are trying to connect them? Normally, if you have two connectors selected, tapping the "L" key or clicking the "Link" button will link them together (forming a new link). Also, let me know what version of the software you have - there are some clickbait sites that provide the installation files but they don't keep those up-to-date! If you are following the video, you can let me know what time in the video you are trying to mimic.
If you look at the sample mechanisms that come with the software, you can see various multi-slider configurations. Creating a slider is easy: Select two connectors that are on the same link or both on the ground then also select one other connector that will slide. Click the "Slide" button. If you want a second slider that slides between the same two connectors, select them again and also select the next connector that will slide. Click the Slide button. If the two connectors that slide are on the same link as each other then you will have one link sliding along another with no pivot/rotation.
+David Rector I'm doing a project and I'm using this bell crank mechanism. it's like a L shaped lever connected with a link and then to the bell crank. I'm using it for unloading the sand collected in a scoop. I want to simulate the mechanism before doing it practically but the problem is that I dunno how to give a force(not rotation) in the L shaped lever in linkage software.
All Linkage mechanisms need a motor or actuator to drive them. Add an actuator and make one end an anchor. Join the other end to the bell crank or to a part that moves the bell crank. Remember that the mechanism cannot have any unpredictable movement - you cannot rely on gravity to keep things in position. it all needs to be predictable mathematically. Find my email address is the software and send me an email with your mechanism attached. I'll fix it and send it back if you are still having trouble. - Dave
Dutch? Google heeft niet goed werk geleverd met de vertaling, dus ik weet niet zeker of ik kan reageren. Maar ik waardeer het dat je de video bekijkt en probeert de software te gebruiken. Ik hoop dat Google deze vertaling correct doet.
@@rectorsquid Haha thank you. I mean, i just started a dutch bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and our professor mentioned this software so I was asking if there were any lads checking out youtube tutorials as well. The translation is quite good btw.
@@sar4102, the "wb tu delft" wasn't translated by Google but I looked it up. Good luck with your degree at Delft University! Let me know if you try the software and have any questions.
Also, there is a PDF instruction manual that might help with simple questions like this. It's sort of a reference manual but there is an index that might help you find things.
It's not a very interesting name: "Linkage Mechanism Designer and Simulator" I didn't know when I created the software that anyone but me would ever use it and now it's too late to change to a better more distinct name. linkagesimulator.com
You can see measurements by tapping the "D" key or selecting "Dimensions" from the "Details" menu in the View panel of the toolbar. To set measurements, you might want to read the documentation if you can. The easiest way to set a dimension is to select two connectors and then type in a length or distance value into that text box in the toolbar in the Dimension panel.
Nice piece of software. Is it possible to make curved / angled connector (pushing rod) ? Like this mechanism www.nmbtgroup.ru/userfiles/content/0/0/1/135_big.jpg
The software is for designing the locations of the connectors, not the shape of the parts. If you need a curved link, simply create the curve in the link during the manufacturing process. The shape of the link does not alter the relative locations of the connectors on the link.
@@rectorsquid thank You for prompt answer. If I put straight link, it hit the frame of the door during opening (in software modeling in Linkage), so design cannot be tested in emulator ... that is not good :-/
Some examples www.mapleprimes.com/posts/204684-Lever-Mechanisms- Universal method of kinematic analysis of spatial and planar link mechanisms www.maplesoft.com/applications/view.aspx?SID=154228
I just added subtitles using an automatic subtitle generator in RU-vid Studio. They are not punctuated correctly but they are there now. I only added English since I have no way to verify the accuracy of any other language.
It's not much different from programs like Adobe Illustrator. It's got a steep learning curve for the first 30 minutes.Is there anything giving you trouble that I can help with?
If you know of a mechanism design program that is easier to use, let me know. I'd love to see how others do this and then try to implement some of their features.
Ever heard of "SAM 6.0 - The Ultimate Mechanism Designer"? It's more of a pro linkage program. It plots velocities, forces, etc. I managed to get a pirate copy of it. If you can implement anything there's in there, it would be awesome
I'm hoping you get notifications about my comments. I would really like to get some more details on your feedback. Have you tried the latest version of the software? Just a note about what you are doing when one of the bugs showed up, would be super helpful. Thanks.