Split Hamming String as an Isomorphism Test for One Degree-of-Freedom Planar Simple-Jointed Kinematic Chains Containing Sliders

Over the last six decades, kinematicians have devised many tests for the identification of isomorphism among kinematic chains (KCs) with revolute pairs. But when it comes to KCs with prismatic pairs, tests are woefully absent and the age-old method of visual inspection is being resorted to even today. This void is all the more conspicuous because sliders are present in all kinds of machinery like quick-return motion mechanism, Davis steering gear, trench hoe, etc. The reason for this unfortunate avoidance is the difficulty in discriminating between sliding and revolute pairs in the link–link adjacency matrix, a popular starting point for many methods. This paper attempts to overcome this obstacle by (i) using joint–joint adjacency, (ii) labeling the revolute pairs first, followed by the sliding pairs, and (iii) observing whether an element of the adjacency matrix belongs to revolute–revolute (RR), revolute–prismatic (RP) (or PR), or prismatic–prismatic (PP) zone, where R and P stand for revolute and prismatic joints, respectively. A procedure similar to hamming number technique is applied on the adjacency matrix but each hamming number is now split into three components, so as to yield the split hamming string (SHS). It is proposed in this paper that the SHS is a reliable and simple test for isomorphism among KCs with prismatic pairs. Using a computer program in python, this method has been applied successfully on a single degree-of-freedom (DOF) simple-jointed planar six-bar chains (up to all possible seven prismatic pairs) and eight-bar KCs (up to all ten prismatic pairs). For six-bar chains, the total number of distinct chains obtained was 94 with 47 each for Watt and Stephenson lineages. For eight-bar chains, the total number is 7167 with the distinct chain count and the corresponding link assortment in parenthesis as 3780(0-4-4), 3037(1-2-5), and 350(2-0-6). Placing all these distinct KCs in a descending order based on SHS can substantially simplify communication during referencing, storing, and retrieving.