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Kinematic couplings (KC's) are precision-machined mechanical contacts used to precisely locate components with respect to each other. Traditional KC's place a triangular arrangement of three hemispheres on one component into three corresponding 'vee-grooves' on a mating component, deterministically constraining all six degrees of freedom of motion. Given deterministic locating, analytical relations give the contact forces, contact stresses, and contact deflections for a given coupling geometry.
When repeatibility is crucial, kinematic interfaces can be essential!
It is envisioned that couplings can be developed for numerous other applications. Specifically, project work began in September 2000 to develop standard KC interfaces linked to open-architecture information technology (IT) applications to enable quick-change modularity of industrial robots and robot subassemblies. This project is supported by ABB, Ford, Polaroid, and Teradyne; for a detailed description of work, visit the Case Studies section of the website.
The following material is the foundational material to start designing your own kinematic couplings. Additional references can be found in the Reading Material tab. This site even includes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for designing kinematic couplings created by Prof. Alex Slocum. Also included in a list of references, including links to several of Prof. Slocum's patents for kinematic coupling designs.