A GA–DE hybrid evolutionary algorithm for path synthesis of four-bar linkage

A new real-coded evolutionary algorithm is proposed for application to path synthesis of a four-bar linkage. This new evolutionary algorithm is obtained by combining differential evolution (DE) with the real-valued genetic algorithm (RGA). We term this the “GA–DE hybrid algorithm.” The only difference between the proposed algorithm and RGA is in the content of the crossover. The crossover operation in the RGA is replaced by differential vector perturbation, with the best individual or some excellent individuals as the base vectors. Thus, both the main perturbation of differential vectors and the minor perturbation of mutation are used as genetic operators in the GA–DE hybrid algorithm. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method are tested using four cases. Findings show that much more accurate solutions for three cases are obtained with this method than those obtained using other evolutionary methods as discussed in the literature. A moveable stick diagram of the synthesized mechanisms can be obtained using the 2D sketch feature of SolidWorks®. This can be used to check whether the synthesized mechanisms encounter circuit defects or are incapable of motion.