Abstract

The manipulation of heavy equipment in the machinery fabrication sector is a significant cause of accidents and back injury. Little automatization of this type of handling has been carried out.

A computer-aided design program which facilitates the mechanical optimisation of a wide variety of jointed-rod industrial handling equipment was developed, using a novel cinematographic design technique developed by the researcher and his associates. The program could be marketed as a support tool for automated handling systems. Its use would free workers from hazardous tasks and allow mechanical engineers to design optimal handling equipment for a given set of functional constraints.