Abstract This paper deals with the design and analysis of a multiple-mode subunit that can be used to construct reconfigurable/polyhedron deployable mechanisms. A new multiple-mode mechanism, which possesses five motion modes and can switch between these modes at different transition configurations, is designed for the first time by using four R (revolute) joints to connect four antiparallelogram units. First, the construction of the multiple-mode mechanism composed of four antiparallelogram units and four R joints is presented, the mechanism is simplified as a spatial single-loop 8R mechanism with variable link lengths. Second, the DOF (degree of freedom) and kinematic paths of two plane-symmetric modes are calculated through the screw theory and the closure equations, and then the configurations of plane-symmetric Mode I and Mode II are presented, after which the bifurcations of Mode I and Mode II are analyzed. Third, three plane-motion modes derived from three singular configurations of Mode I and Mode II are given, the transition between the five modes of mechanism is identified. Finally, a prototype of the multiple-mode mechanism is designed and fabricated to verify the feasibility of the construction method and the analysis of the modes.

中文翻译：

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由四个反平行四边形单元和四个旋转关节组成的多模式机构

摘要 本文涉及可用于构建可重构/多面体可部署机制的多模式子单元的设计和分析。通过使用四个R（旋转）关节连接四个反平行四边形单元，首次设计了一种具有五种运动模式并可以在不同过渡配置下在这些模式之间切换的新型多模式机构。首先，提出了由四个反平行四边形单元和四个R关节组成的多模态机构的结构，将该机构简化为具有可变连杆长度的空间单环8R机构。其次，通过螺旋理论和闭合方程计算两种平面对称模式的DOF（自由度）和运动学路径，然后给出了平面对称模式I和模式II的配置，然后分析了模式I和模式II的分叉。第三，给出了由模式I和模式II的三种奇异构型衍生的三种平面运动模式，确定了五种机构模式之间的过渡。最后，设计并制作了多模态机构样机，验证了构建方法的可行性和模态分析。