Reconfiguration theory of mechanism from a traditional artifact

The traditional artifacts are very popular to play with for their magic tricks and these transformations contain potential theory of mechanisms. The assembly-circles artifact is a metamorphic mechanism which can change its configuration and shape through the motion of joints. In this paper, the topology and configuration of the assembly-circles artifact are investigated by dividing the mechanism into three sections. The constraint, kinematics, singularity, and geometry properties of this special mechanism are also studied. The assembly methods and metamorphic principle are proposed and well summarized. Furthermore, three evaluating criteria for metamorphic mechanisms, which are the linear ratio, area ratio, and volume ratio, are proposed. The performance of this artifact is estimated by these criteria. Our research provides some fundamental ideas for the design of metamorphic mechanisms which are very useful in aerospace field.