Language Models Refine Mechanical Linkage Designs Through Symbolic Reflection and Modular Optimisation

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Main Authors: Gandarela, João Pedro, Rios, Thiago, Menzel, Stefan, Freitas, André
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Gandarela, João Pedro
Rios, Thiago
Menzel, Stefan
Freitas, André
author_facet Gandarela, João Pedro
Rios, Thiago
Menzel, Stefan
Freitas, André
contents Designing mechanical linkages involves combinatorial topology selection and continuous parameter fitting. We show that language models can systematically improve linkage designs through symbolic representations. Language model agents explore discrete topologies while numerical optimisers fit continuous parameters. A symbolic lifting operator translates simulator trajectories into qualitative descriptors, motion labels, temporal predicates, and structural diagnostics that models interpret across iterative design cycles. Across six engineering-relevant motion targets and three open-source models (Llama 3.3 70B, Qwen3 4B, Qwen3 MoE 30B-A3B), the modular architecture reduces geometric error by up to 68% and improves structural validity by up to 134% over monolithic baselines. Critically, 78.6% of iterative refinement trajectories show measurable improvement, with the system correctly diagnosing overconstraint (56.3%) and underconstraint (35.6%) failure modes and proposing grounded corrections. Models across all three families acquire interpretable mechanical reasoning strategies without fine-tuning, demonstrating that principled symbolic abstraction bridges generative AI and the numerical precision required for engineering design.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_27962
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Language Models Refine Mechanical Linkage Designs Through Symbolic Reflection and Modular Optimisation
Gandarela, João Pedro
Rios, Thiago
Menzel, Stefan
Freitas, André
Artificial Intelligence
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Multiagent Systems
Designing mechanical linkages involves combinatorial topology selection and continuous parameter fitting. We show that language models can systematically improve linkage designs through symbolic representations. Language model agents explore discrete topologies while numerical optimisers fit continuous parameters. A symbolic lifting operator translates simulator trajectories into qualitative descriptors, motion labels, temporal predicates, and structural diagnostics that models interpret across iterative design cycles. Across six engineering-relevant motion targets and three open-source models (Llama 3.3 70B, Qwen3 4B, Qwen3 MoE 30B-A3B), the modular architecture reduces geometric error by up to 68% and improves structural validity by up to 134% over monolithic baselines. Critically, 78.6% of iterative refinement trajectories show measurable improvement, with the system correctly diagnosing overconstraint (56.3%) and underconstraint (35.6%) failure modes and proposing grounded corrections. Models across all three families acquire interpretable mechanical reasoning strategies without fine-tuning, demonstrating that principled symbolic abstraction bridges generative AI and the numerical precision required for engineering design.
title Language Models Refine Mechanical Linkage Designs Through Symbolic Reflection and Modular Optimisation
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27962