General Information

What : Project class – Mechanisms in Motion

When : Wed – Fri 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM
Tue – Office Hours from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Where : Hunt Library, Room A-5

Instructor : E.Louise Larson, Susan Finger

Teaching Assistant : Alyssa Casamento

Program – Summer Academy for Mathematics and Science

Course Description

This course introduces students to Computer Aided Design (CAD) and laser cutting. This course teaches students the basic elements of mechanical systems while emphasizing the underlying physical principles. Through this course, students will develop an understanding of the principles and workings of elements, such as linkages, cams, and gears, which generate and convey mechanical motion. Students will also learn about basic prototyping techniques using paper, cardboard, wood and acrylic. Students will gain hands-on experience in designing and fabricating mechanisms through design project. As a culmination of their learning during the course, students will design and build final projects of mechanisms in motion. The class will involve working in teams and will emphasize hands on learning.

Project Description

Students will work in teams to design and build an automaton– mechanism in motion. The project will allow students to apply the acquired knowledge of mechanisms to create the automaton. Examples of automaton include using mechanisms to mimic the motion of dancing ballerinas to creating simple automotive engine – the possibilities are only limited by your imagination and creativity!

Towards completion of the project, the students will:

Conceptualize ideas for their automaton,
Develop sketches and initial prototypes using paper and cardboard,
Develop CAD models for different aspects of their project and
Build a final prototype using wood and/or acrylic.

Class objectives

At the end of successful completion of this course the students should be able to:

Understand the principles and workings of basic mechanical elements such as linkages, gears, cams.
Select appropriate mechanisms for desired motions
Use CAD (SolidWorks) to create design models
Design and fabricate simple designs using tools such as Laser cutting and prototyping techniques

Tentative Schedule

Week 1	Kinematic fundamentals Linkages Introduction to Laser-cutting
Week 2	Cams Gears Introduction to SolidWorks
Week 3	Introduction to the project Conceptualizing automaton ideas Generating cam profiles for automaton
Week 4	Developing CAD models Developing initial prototypes
Week 5	Fabrication of automaton Assembly and testing
Week 6	Final presentations Symposium

Class Resources

See Resources