Automatic Analysis of Kinematic Structure of Planetary Gear Trains

This paper presents a systematic algorithm for the automatic analysis of the kinematic structure of planetary gear trains with any number of degrees of freedom. The canonical displacement graphs and rotation graphs are introduced to represent the kinematic structure of planetary gear trains. Next, a single identification number method is presented to identify the displacement isomorphism of planetary gear trains. Then, nonfractionated multi-DOF planetary gear trains can be identified from their rotation graphs. Finally, an interactive computer program is developed for the automatic analysis of the kinematic structure of planetary gear trains. The result of this work is beneficial to the development of the new planetary gear trains.