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(); }