Based on code from Keith Peters (www.bit-101.com) The arm follows the position of the mouse by calculating the angles with atan2().
Original Processing.org Example: Reach1
// All Examples Written by Casey Reas and Ben Fry
// unless otherwise stated.
float x = 100;
float y = 100;
float x2 = 100;
float y2 = 100;
float segLength = 30;
void setup() {
size(200, 200);
smooth();
strokeWeight(20.0);
stroke(0, 100);
}
void draw() {
background(226);
float dx = mouseX - x;
float dy = mouseY - y;
float angle1 = atan2(dy, dx);
float tx = mouseX - cos(angle1) * segLength;
float ty = mouseY - sin(angle1) * segLength;
dx = tx - x2;
dy = ty - y2;
float angle2 = atan2(dy, dx);
x = x2 + cos(angle2) * segLength;
y = y2 + sin(angle2) * segLength;
segment(x, y, angle1);
segment(x2, y2, angle2);
}
void segment(float x, float y, float a) {
pushMatrix();
translate(x, y);
rotate(a);
line(0, 0, segLength, 0);
popMatrix();
}