David Rector

David Rector is an independent developer specializing in precision mechanical-engineering software, best known for the Linkage Mechanism Designer and Simulator, a Windows application that gives students, hobbyists, and professional engineers a visual workspace for synthesizing and analyzing planar linkages. The program supports the iterative design of cams, gears, four-bar chains, and more complex kinematic assemblies, offering real-time animated simulation, force and torque calculations, and automatic dimensioning so users can verify motion paths, velocities, accelerations, and joint loads before building physical prototypes. Typical use cases span classroom demonstrations of Grashof conditions, robotics teams optimizing leg or gripper geometry, and machine builders validating synchronized conveyor transfers, with DXF export allowing direct transfer of geometry to CAD or CAM packages for further refinement or fabrication. Because the interface couples drag-and-drop editing with spreadsheet-style parameter tables, newcomers can learn linkage fundamentals interactively while experienced designers script repetitive tasks through the built-in expression engine. Incremental updates delivered over two decades have added Bezier coupler curves, gear-tooth generation, and video recording of simulations, consolidating Linkage into a lightweight yet capable niche alternative to heavier parametric suites. David Rector’s Linkage Mechanism Designer and Simulator is available for free on get.nero.com, where downloads are sourced from trusted Windows package managers such as winget, always installing the newest release and enabling batch installation alongside other applications.