Kinematic Analysis of Planar Mechanisms
Mechanism Analysis Report: RRRP and RRRR
Juan Antonio León Cárdenas
Universidad Iberoamericana
February 13, 2026
1 Introduction
The objective of this report is to perform the position, velocity, and acceleration analysis
of two different planar mechanisms:
1. A Crank-Slider mechanism (RRRP).
2. A Four-Bar Linkage mechanism (RRRR).
The results obtained through analytical analysis using MATLAB will be compared with
graphical analysis using simulation in Working Model 2D.
2 Mechanism 1: Crank-Slider (RRRP)
2.1 Problem Statement
A mechanism with the following dimensions and input conditions is analyzed:
• Crank (R2 ): 1.4 units, Connecting Rod (L): 4 units, Offset (C): 1 unit.
• Input: θ2 = 45◦ , ω2 = 10 rad/s.
2.2 Analytical Analysis (MATLAB)
The vector loop equations were solved using the Newton-Raphson method via MATLAB’s
symbolic toolbox.
1 % Unknowns
2 syms t3 w3 Vp S
3
4 % Known constants
5 R2 = 1.4; L = 4; C = 1;
6 t2 = 45; % degrees
7 w2 = 10;
8 t2_rad = deg2rad ( t2 ) ;
9
10 % System equations
11 eq1 = R2 * cos ( t2_rad ) + L * cos ( t3 ) - S == 0;
1
12 eq2 = R2 * sin ( t2_rad ) + L * sin ( t3 ) - C == 0;
13 eq3 = - R2 * sin ( t2_rad ) * w2 - L * sin ( t3 ) * w3 - Vp == 0;
14 eq4 = R2 * cos ( t2_rad ) * w2 + L * cos ( t3 ) * w3 == 0;
15
16 % Solve system
17 sol = vpasolve ([ eq1 , eq2 , eq3 , eq4 ] , [S , t3 , Vp , w3 ]) ;
18
19 % Results
20 S_val = double ( sol . S ) ;
21 t3_val = double ( rad2deg ( sol . t3 ) ) ;
22 Vp_val = double ( sol . Vp ) ;
23 w3_val = double ( sol . w3 ) ;
Listing 1: MATLAB code for RRRP Analysis
2.3 Graphical Analysis & Comparison
Figure 1: RRRP Simulation in Working Model.
Variable Symbol MATLAB Working Model
Slider Position S 4.9899 4.9903
Conn. Rod Angle θ3 0.144◦ 0.149◦
Slider Velocity Vp -9.875 -9.869
Conn. Rod Vel. ω3 -2.475 -2.475
Table 1: RRRP Results Comparison.
2
3 Mechanism 2: Four-Bar Linkage (RRRR)
3.1 Problem Statement
A four-bar linkage is analyzed with the following parameters:
• Ground (R1 ): 6, Crank (R2 ): 2, Coupler (R3 ): 7, Rocker (R4 ): 9.
• Input: θ2 = 30◦ , ω2 = 10 deg/s, α2 = 0.
3.2 Analytical Analysis (MATLAB)
The system is modeled using vector loop equations for position, velocity, and acceleration.
1 % % Cleanup
2 clear ; clc ; close all ;
3 syms t3 w3 t4 w4 alfa3 alfa4
4
5 % Constants
6 R2 = 2; R1 = 6; R4 = 9; R3 = 7;
7 t2 = 30; w2 = 10; alfa2 = 0;
8 t2_rad = deg2rad ( t2 ) ;
9
10 % Equations ( Position , Velocity , Acceleration )
11 eq1 = R2 * cos ( t2_rad ) + R3 * cos ( t3 ) - R4 * cos ( t4 ) - R1 == 0;
12 eq2 = R2 * sin ( t2_rad ) + R3 * sin ( t3 ) - R4 * sin ( t4 ) == 0;
13 eq3 = - R2 * sin ( t2_rad ) * w2 - R3 * sin ( t3 ) * w3 + R4 * sin ( t4 ) * w4 == 0;
14 eq4 = R2 * cos ( t2_rad ) * w2 + R3 * cos ( t3 ) * w3 - R4 * cos ( t4 ) * w4 == 0;
15 eq5 = - R2 * cos ( t2_rad ) * w2 ^2 - R2 * sin ( t2 ) * alfa2 - R3 * cos ( t3 ) * w3 ^2 ...
16 - R3 * sin ( t3 ) * alfa3 + R4 * cos ( t4 ) * w4 ^2 + R4 * sin ( t4 ) * alfa4 == 0;
17 eq6 = - R2 * sin ( t2_rad ) * w2 ^2 + R2 * cos ( t2 ) * alfa2 - R3 * sin ( t3 ) * w3 ^2 ...
18 + R3 * cos ( t3 ) * alfa3 + R4 * sin ( t4 ) * w4 ^2 - R4 * cos ( t4 ) * alfa4 == 0;
19
20 % Initial Guesses and Solve
21 initialGuesses = [ deg2rad (100) , deg2rad (30) , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1];
22 sol = vpasolve ([ eq1 , eq2 , eq3 , eq4 , eq5 , eq6 ] , ...
23 [ t4 , t3 , w4 , w3 , alfa3 , alfa4 ] , initialGuesses ) ;
24
25 % Results conversion
26 t4_val = double ( rad2deg ( sol . t4 ) ) ;
27 t3_val = double ( rad2deg ( sol . t3 ) ) ;
28 w3_val = double ( sol . w3 ) ;
29 w4_val = double ( sol . w4 ) ;
30 alfa3_val = double ( sol . alfa3 ) ;
31 alfa4_val = double ( sol . alfa4 ) ;
Listing 2: MATLAB code for RRRR Analysis
3
3.3 Graphical Analysis & Comparison
Figure 2: RRRR Simulation in Working Model.
Variable Symbol MATLAB Working Model
Coupler Angle θ3 88.84◦ 88.82◦
Rocker Angle θ4 117.29◦ 117.28◦
Coupler Velocity ω3 -5.99 deg/s -5.99 deg/s
Rocker Velocity ω4 -3.99 deg/s -3.99 deg/s
Coupler Accel. α3 26.08 deg/s2 –
Rocker Accel. α4 53.33 deg/s2 –
Table 2: RRRR Results Comparison (Input ω2 in deg/s).
4 Conclusion
Both mechanisms were successfully analyzed. The analytical results from the MATLAB
scripts show a high degree of correlation with the graphical simulations provided by Work-
ing Model 2D.