Mechanical Design 101 http://mechanicaldesign101.com Mechanical Design Educational Resource Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:52:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Rice Transplanter http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/15/rice-transplanter/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/15/rice-transplanter/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:34:28 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1166

Click here to view the embedded video.


This rice transplanter selects seedlings from the hopper and plants them into the ground using a four-bar linkage designed by Mark Plecnik.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/15/rice-transplanter/feed/ 0 5SS Spatial Steering Linkage http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/14/5ss-spatial-steering-linkage/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/14/5ss-spatial-steering-linkage/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:34:55 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1162

Click here to view the embedded video.


Mark Plecnik designed this spatial 5SS steering linkage to increase the track and increase the camber as the vehicle turns.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/14/5ss-spatial-steering-linkage/feed/ 0 Mechanism Generator 2.0 (MechGen 2) http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/06/mechanism-generator-2-0-mechgen-2/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/06/mechanism-generator-2-0-mechgen-2/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:46:04 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1140 We have a trial version of our Mechanism Generator 2.0 software available. MechGen 2 reads five task positions of a moving part in SolidWorks and generates a set of linkages that approximate the positions within specified tolerances. An animation previewer shows how each linkage moves. Select one and MechGen 2 generates the solid model of the linkage.

This video demonstrates the operation of MechGen 2:

Click here to view the embedded video.


This is the result of excellent work by Alex Arredondo and Kaustubh Sonawale.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/06/mechanism-generator-2-0-mechgen-2/feed/ 0 2011 UCI Fall Design Review http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/05/2011-uci-fall-design-review/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/05/2011-uci-fall-design-review/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:55:19 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1134

Click here to view the embedded video.


400 seniors in majors across UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering presented posters describing over 70 senior projects. Over 140 volunteers from Engineering student clubs set-up, cooked, served, and cleaned-up the BBQ in UCI’s Engineering Plaza.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2012/01/05/2011-uci-fall-design-review/feed/ 0 Folding movement for wings for the Icon A5 http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/folding-movement-of-wings-for-the-icon-a5/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/folding-movement-of-wings-for-the-icon-a5/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:49:28 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1106 This spherical four-bar linkage concept by Kaustubh Sonawale guides the wings of the Icon A5 in the movement shown in the animation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/folding-movement-of-wings-for-the-icon-a5/feed/ 0 Spherical linkage concept to fold a wing http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spherical-linkage-concept-to-fold-a-wing/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spherical-linkage-concept-to-fold-a-wing/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:38:12 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1104 This is a spherical four-bar linkage concept by Kaustubh Sonawale designed to fold the wings of an Icon A5 small aircraft.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spherical-linkage-concept-to-fold-a-wing/feed/ 0 Spare tire deployment linkage http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spare-tire-deployment-linkage/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spare-tire-deployment-linkage/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:27:36 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1100 Kaustubh Sonawale designed this four-bar linkage to move a truck spare tire from a stowed position to the deployed position.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/26/spare-tire-deployment-linkage/feed/ 0 Happy Holidays and Have a Great New Year http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/24/happy-holidays-and-have-a-great-new-year/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/24/happy-holidays-and-have-a-great-new-year/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:36:49 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1094 Happy holidays and have a happy new year!

Happy holidays and have a happy new year!

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/24/happy-holidays-and-have-a-great-new-year/feed/ 0 Instruments for Natural Philosophy http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/13/instruments-for-natural-philosophy/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/13/instruments-for-natural-philosophy/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:31:45 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1091 This site has photographs of a large number of devices used to teach physics. It is fascinating.
Select the link: http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/index.html

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/12/13/instruments-for-natural-philosophy/feed/ 0 Smitty and the Professor http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/10/19/smitty-and-the-professor/ http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/10/19/smitty-and-the-professor/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:10:56 +0000 admin http://mechanicaldesign101.com/?p=1078 Smitty and I have been working on a series of videos for an introduction to race car engineering. Please look for them at the link: Smitty and the Professor

]]> http://mechanicaldesign101.com/2011/10/19/smitty-and-the-professor/feed/ 0