We study body-and-hinge and panel-and-hinge chains in R^d, with two marked points: one on the first body, the other on the last. For a general chain, the squared distance between the marked points gives a Morse-Bott function on a torus configuration
space. Maximal configurations, when the distance between the two marked points reaches a global maximum, have particularly simple geometrical characterizations. The three-dimensional case is relevant for applications to robotics and molecular structures.
Motivated by the hinge structure present in protein chains and other molecular conformations, we study the singularities of certain maps associated to body-and-hinge and panel-and-hinge chains. These are sequentially articulated systems where two con
secutive rigid pieces are connected by a hinge, that is, a codimension two axis. The singularities, or critical points, correspond to a dimensional drop in the linear span of the axes, regarded as points on a Grassmann variety in its Pl{u}cker embedding. These results are valid in arbitrary dimension. The three dimensional case is also relevant in robotics.
