The major objective of this paper is to solve a synthesis problem, namely the design of a mechanism with a double oscillating slide that has the role of rotating a rocker at 180°; the relationships between the lengths of the elements that ensure its rotation without blocking are established. The geometric model of the mechanism was made in the Autodesk Inventor program and imported in the Altair Inspire program. The kinematic analysis of the mechanism was performed in Altair Inspire program and its working was validated.

Achieving curved crease surfaces is a current challenge for designers, the field still underexplored. The curve on which the bending is performed can present extremely complicated shapes that must be accurately generated through various technological processes. For this aim, a planar mechanism consisting of an ellipsograph, a conchoidograph and an RRR dyad—whose inner joint generates the targeted connecting rod curve—was proposed in this paper. Parametrizing the lengths of the elements of the RRR dyad, the correlation coefficient of the rotations of the leading elements and the directions of these movements result in different connecting rod curves, which can be used to obtain the folded surfaces; the optimization, according to various criteria, will be explored for the automatic generation of some design solutions. With the help of the Altair program, for some given geometrical data of the mechanism, both the drawing of the curve on plates of different initial shapes and the simulation of their folding by applying compression forces on the bounding surfaces were carried out. By cutting the deformed shape, folded surface units used in tessellations are obtained.

Cams and followers are parts of many mechanical systems, including those that assure rotation and translation intermittent movement of an element, example for conveyor belts or rotating stages. The paper deals with the analysis of the influence of geometrical parameters on the kinematics of two-movement follower mechanism using Computer-Aided Engineering. The profile of the cam was analytically determined. The geometric model and the kinematic analysis of the mechanism were made with several software packages (AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Adams and Altair Inspire).