The Software Mechanism Developer - Now Available for Education and Industry

The Institute of Mechanism Theory, Machine Dynamics and Robotics at RWTH Aachen University has been developing the "Mechanism Developer" (MechDev) software for interactive design and analysis of planar mechanisms and linkages for some time [1, 2] and regularly publishes its current progress [3-5]. This software is now generally available and can be licensed. MechDev is recommended for educational purposes as well as for industrial applications. The core of the software is a powerful analysis tool for the kinematic and kinetostatic analysis of planar mechanisms, which is constantly being further developed. This paper briefly introduces the graphical interface of MechDev software. This is followed by an application example from the field of textile technology. In the presentation, the MechDev software is presented interactively. Among other things, the possibilities for analyzing and interactive design are shown. With just a few inputs, a judgement can be made about the possible use of a mechanisms. This will be presented in the presentation using an application example from the field of single-sided sewing technology.