Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-7-2008
Abstract
Motivated by the hinge structure present in protein chains and other molecular conformations, we study the singularities of certain maps associated to body-and-hinge and panel-and-hinge chains. These are sequentially articulated systems where two consecutive rigid pieces are connected by a hinge, that is, a codimension two axis. The singularities, or critical points, correspond to a dimensional drop in the linear span of the axes, regarded as points on a Grassmann variety in its Pl¨ucker embedding. These results are valid in arbitrary dimension. The three dimensional case is also relevant in robotics.
Recommended Citation
Borcea, Ciprian and Streinu, Ileana, "Singularities of Hinge Structures" (2008). Computer Science: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/csc_facpubs/12
Comments
Author’s submitted manuscript.