Abstract: Metamorphic mechanism is a class of mechanism which possesses the characteristics such as multi-stage, multi-topology, multi-degree of freedom (DOF) changes. A novel type of electric loading mechanism is proposed by employing the concepts of the mechanism to the innovative design of loaders, which can change its topological structures to adjust various kinds of demands during the working process. One driving motor can finish multiple tasks such as shoveling, loading, lifting, and dumping. The motor is placed on the frame, problems of traditional serial manipulators such as low stiffness, high inertia of the linkages can be avoided. The source-metamorphic mechanism of the newly invented mechanism is introduced, as well as its metamorphic ways. The adjacent matrix and topological graphs are used to describe the topological changes of each sub-phase of the mechanism, based on which the working principles and characteristics of configuration changing are analyzed. The characteristics during the evolutionary process are obtained. Configuration transformation and its degeneration ways during the genetic growth are studied. The representation of source-metamorphic mechanism is given after generation operations.

Key words: metamorphic mechanism;electric loading mechanism;biological modeling;topological structures