ABSTRACT
As explained in Chapter 1 and demonstrated throughout this textbook, a linkage (also commonly called a mechanism) is an assembly of links and joints where the motion of one link compels the motion of another link in a controlled manner. To enable controlled mechanism motion, they are either initially designed to have a single degree of freedom or ultimately configured (in the case of the geared five-bar mechanism) to have a single degree of freedom. Conventional planar and spatial linkages include the four-bar, slider-crank, geared five-bar, Watt, Stephenson, RRSS, RSSR, and 4R spherical linkages presented in Chapters 4 and 10.
