Relating tolerances and kinematic behavior

Designers usually complete the design with nominal dimensions and allocate tolerances only at the drawing stage. This practice can cause the following problems: (1) unnecessarily tight tolerances that require expensive manufacturing processes, (2) parts whose proper functioning is contingent on excessively tight tolerances, and (3) situations where slight wear on a part can seriously modify the behavior of the device. There is a need for computer-based techniques which will allow designers to investigate the effect of manufacturing tolerances on the function their design performs. This paper presents a means for capturing the kinematic behavior of a device and relating it to the tolerances on it's components. Behavior is represented using a configuration space representation, which we argue will be a useful tool for designers.