Here is a walking machine called the Mondo Spider:
The leg of this walking machine is described in US Patent 6,260,862 awarded to Joseph Klann. Access it through the link:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=70YHAAAAEBAJ&dq=6,260,862
Wikipedia calls this the Klann linkage described here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klann_Linkage
The leg of the mondo spider has the topology known as a Stephenson six-bar.
Theo Jansen builds amazing walking machines as can be seen in this video:
Each leg is an eight-bar linkage. The Wolfram Demonstration Project models this linkage in a Mathematica notebook. See the link:
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ATheoJansenWalkingLinkage/
The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides an on-line periodic table. Access it and other information at the link:
http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/PerTable/index.html
National Institute of Standards and Technology
This is a link to notes on Geometric Design and Tolerancing by Prof. Graeme Britton of Raffles Design Institute, Singapore:
http://www.docin.com/p-6099896.html
Prof. Britton's Notes on GD&T
A pdf version of Prof. Britton’s lecture is available at:
http://synthetica.eng.uci.edu/~mccarthy/mechanicaldesign101/GDandT.pdf
This design concept is an 8-bar linkage developed by Minshan Tsai and GimSong Soh for my advanced mechanisms class, UCI Robotics and Automation Lab. It is now on YouTube:
The dishwasher linkage design concept developed by Marshall Meek in my advanced mechanisms course (UCI Robotics and Automation Lab) is now accessible on YouTube:
Here is a link to a facebook album showing the racecars and teams at the 2009 Formula SAE California intercollegiate engineering racecar competition that occurred June 17-21, 2009 at the Auto Club Raceway, Fontana CA.
Michael Ashby presents materials information in a practical format in his book Materials Selection in Mechanical Design.
Materials Selection in Mechanical Design
This is a link to lecture notes that give an idea of his approach:
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/cme/pdfs/443ashbylectures2006.pdf
This 10-bar linkage is designed to drive a scissors movement in order to actuate a deployable structure. It was presented at the 2009 ReMar Conference in London. (UCI Robotics and Automation Lab)
