All Blog Posts

Curvature Theory

Curvature Theory for Planar Point Trajectories

These notes for the Stanford University graduate course ME 322…
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T2 Two and Three Position Synthesis

Four-bar Linkage Synthesis, Two and Three Task Positions

These notes for the Stanford University course ME 322 Kinematic…
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T1 Four-bar Linkage Analysis

Four-bar Linkage Analysis Notes

These notes have been prepared for the Stanford University graduate…
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Superluminal Chapter 4

David finds that surpassing Siggy and Kwan to get to…
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Chapter 1 Busted

Superluminal Chapter 3

More of R. W. Frost's story following David Minor's uneasy…
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Hummingbird Spatial Six-bar

Hummingbird Spatial Six-bar Linkage

This spatial six-bar linkage provides a compact flapping wing…
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SuperluminalMDA

Superluminal Chapters 1-2

Superluminal, the new book by R. W. Frost, follows David Minor’s…
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Type synthesis

Type Synthesis, Assur Groups, and Rigidity

These lecture notes introduce students to research on classifying…
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Flapping Wing Prototype

Flapping Wing Prototype

This is the manufacturing prototype for the flapping wing mechanism…
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Soil Conditioning Port Valve

RPR-2SS Soil Conditioning Valve

This is an animation by Benjamin Liu of a spatial RPR-2SS six-bar…
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Beijing Walking Robot

Design Research in China: Beijing

This video shows the excellent research in design at universities…
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2017 MR Conference

2017 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference

The program for the 2017 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference…
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Smitty 10 Caster

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 10 Caster

Smitty describes the set-up of the front wheels and its importance…
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Smitty 09 Steering

Into to Racecar Engineering: 09 Steering

Smitty explains steering design.   https://youtu.be/…
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Smitty 08 Springs

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 08 Springs

Smitty explains the choice of springs for a suspension. …
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Smitty 07 More Suxpension

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 07 More on Suspensions

Smitty describes more about suspension design.   htt…
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Smitty 06 Shocks

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 06 Shock Absorbers

Smitty describes the importance of shock absorbers in suspension…
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Smitty 05 Suspension Design

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 05 Suspension Design

Smitty describes the principles of suspension design.  …
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Smitty 04 Chassis Design

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 04 Chassis Design

Smitty describes the design principles for the chassis of a race…
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Smitty 03 Strength

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 03 Strength and Stiffness

Smitty shows how the geometry and material work together to provide…
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Fab 04 Soldering

Fabrication: 04 Soldering

Smitty presents the basic techniques of soldering. Every mechanical…
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Fab 03 Hand tools

Fabrication: 03 Hand Tools

This video describes the hand tools important to project engineering.…
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Fab 02 Adv MIG

Fabrication: 02 Advanced MIG Welding

This is the second of a series of videos on fabrication techniques…
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Smitty and Prof 02

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 02 Weight and Balance

In this video, Smitty presents the basic techniques for determining…
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Fab 01 Basic MIG

Fabrication: 01 Basic MIG Welding

This is the first of a series of videos that provide basic fabrication…
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Smitty and Prof 01

Intro to Racecar Engineering: 01 Getting Started

This is the first of a series of videos prepared by Robert "Smitty"…
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Rybos-Kelvin CodaRA White and MD101

Chop Wood Carry Water, S1:Coda

This is the final report of Rybos.KaList.59E, crd 12.29.SPS.6, documented…
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Rybos and the Pathway

Chop Wood Carry Water, S1:E10

After eleven minutes of furious digging, it appeared that my…
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Quarry Search

Chop Wood Carry Water, S1:E9

The explosions had stopped for good, I believed. It had been…
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Revo Cannon

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E8

I'm still unsure of what came out of those PaxoSync cannons,…
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Flapping wing mechanism

Flapping Wing Mechanism

Benjamin Liu prepared this animation of the flapping wing…
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Kelvin trapped

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E7

T. Sarel Brownmoor was an apparition through a curtain of smoke.…
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Cursive character for dragon

Linkages draw Bezier curves

Here is an example of our Bezier curve drawing linkages. The…
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Obelisk Pyramidion

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E6

Or, more accurately, my perception of time abruptly quickened…
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Design Research Changzhou

Design Research in China: Changzhou

Our trip through China concluded at a conference and workshop…
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Yang Signature

Linkage that signs your name

Yang Liu has developed Bezier linkages that trace trigonometric…
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Amoya Zidane

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E5

Instead, I lay back on the ground parallel to Kelvin, blissfully…
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Battle S1:E4

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E4

I waited, expectantly. Kelvin had told me many stories about…
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Soils with robot worms

Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E3

"Tomorrow, I'm going to die." I heard the words, and I understood…
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Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E2

And then, a voice in the darkness. "We've made a few improvements." I…
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Chop Wood Carry Water S1:E1

"The pathway" was what he called it. Except it wasn't actually…
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DMG-LIB Library

DMG-LIB.org mechanism library

The Digital Mechanism and Gear Library has a terrific collection…
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Design Research Dalian

Design Research in China: Dalian

This is the third of five videos highlighting design research…
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Design Research Xian

Design Research in China: Xi’an

This video of our visit to Xi'an captures the beauty of the…
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Trifolium prototype

Prototype of the Trifolium Mechanism

Yang Liu and Peter Yang designed and built this physical…
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2016 Energy Invitational

2016 UCI Energy Invitational Video

Here at UCI we are hard at work on three different race cars…
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Design Research Tianjin

Design Research in China: Tianjin

Chris McCarthy filmed and edited this video of our visit…
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Prototype Butterfly Linkage

Manufacturing Prototype for the Butterfly Linkage

This animation is taken from Yang Liu's detailed design drawings…
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Whale Linkage

Bezier Linkages

Recent research on the design of linkages by Yang Liu has…
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Three seconds

Three seconds

This second collaboration between Prince EA and Change for…
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Love and bananas

Love and Bananas

Beautiful scenes of Cambodia and Thailand and a…
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Robotics Handbook

Robot Ethics

I found this excerpt of the TEDx talk by Bruno Siciliano…
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Butterfly drawing mechanism

Design of Drawing Mechanisms

Mechanical systems that draw trigonometric curves provide a versatile…
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Mechanisms and Robotics Conference

2016 Mechanisms and Robotics Conference

The 2016 Mechanisms and Robotics conference is part of International…
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MotionGen Horse

Motion Gen Linkage Design App

MotionGen is a planar four-bar linkage simulation and synthesis…
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Elliptic curve drawing

Mechanical computation and algebraic curves

A mechanical computer that draws an algebraic curve is a useful…
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Trifolium Contra-parallelograms

Trifolium using contra-parallelograms

Yang Liu shows that a simple linkage can draw the trifolium curve. For…
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Linkage Patents

Want a patent? Try a Six-bar linkage

Patents including six-bar linkages are rare. Thousands of U.S.…
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UCI’s 2016 Mini-Baja Vehicle

UCI’s 2016 Mini-Baja Vehicle

You can follow the UCI race team at the web links: webpage:…
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2015 Energy Invitational

2015 UCI Energy Invitational Video

This video shows highlights of the 2015 Energy Invitational on…
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Fourier Curve Tracing

Fourier Curve Tracing

This animation by Yang Liu is inspired by the mechanical Fourier…
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SIAM News

SIAM News: Biologically inspired linkage design

This article by Jon Hauenstein with me for SIAM News (Society…
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Epsilon is ready

Epsilon is ready for the LA Auto Show

See Epsilon at the 2015 LA Auto Show. This former FSAE racecar…
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Heart Linkage

Heart Trajectory

This mechanical system was designed by Yang Liu to trace…
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Folding Bicycle

Full Size Folding Bicycle

Michael Sutherland and his team at Zennen Engineering designed…
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Micro-Linkages for a Compliant Material

Micro-Linkages for a Compliant Material

Lucas Shaw and Prof. Jonathan Hopkins show the micro-architecture…
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Target Profiles for Morphing Linkage

Actuating Morphing Linkages

Lawrence Funke and Prof. James Schmiedeler of the University…
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Virgo 2 SUTD

Rolling Robot at SUTD

Virgo 2 SUTD A research team including Profs. GimSong Soh,…
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An Interesting Planar Robot at Laval

An Interesting Planar Robot at Laval

Students of Prof. Clement Gosselin at the Laval University Robotics…
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Tensegrity Robotics at UC Berkeley

Tensegrity Robotics at UC Berkeley

Students in Professor Alice Agogino’s Berkeley Emergent Space…
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Origami Art at BYU

Origami Art at BYU

Mechanical engineering students in Prof. Larry Howell’s Compliant…
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Fourbar Extrusion

A four-bar linkage provides a shape changing extrusion die

Fourbar Extrusion Prof. Andrew Murray and his team at the…
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MK1 Schematic

MK.1 Mechanical Computer

Nicholas Bodley sent me to www.maritime.org for information about…
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Bernie Roth

Bernard Roth: The Achievement Habit

I found this book to be remarkable. First, because the initial…
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ipad screenshot

MechGen Suspension

MechGen SP MechGen Suspension is an iPad application that…
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Kaustubh and Mark

Mark Plecnik, PhD and Kaustubh Sonawale, PhD

Mark Plecnik and Kaustubh Sonawale both successfully presented…
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RaceLabTV

RaceLab.tv wants to follow FSAE Teams

RaceLabTV Ian Campbell and Jerry Magana are a director/producer…
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2015 EIVI Race Teams

The Race Teams at the 2015 Energy Invitational

The Race Teams at the 2015 Energy Invitational, May 24,…
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2015-Energy-Invitational-Layout-1

2015 Energy Invitational Layouts

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Here are the organization layouts for the 2015 Energy Invitational. …
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2015 EIVI Heat Schedule

2015 Energy Invitational: Heat Schedule

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This is the list of participants and the heat schedule for…
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Truman Studio

Wheelchair Seating and Racecar Engineering

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Truman Pollard's wheelchair seat design which repurposes…
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Rescue Robotics

Patches for the Energy Invitational and Rescue Robotics Challenge

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This is the participant patch for the 2015 Energy Invitational…
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Leg Mechanisms

Walking Machines

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Leg Mechanisms An outcome of Mark Plecnik's research on the…
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Sorry: Earth Day 2015

Sorry: Earth Day 2015

Change for Balance filmed this video for Earth Day 2015 with…
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MechGen Suspension

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MechGen Suspension is our latest iPad app. It is an ambitious…
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MechGen on iPhone

MechGen FG is on the iPhone

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MechGen FG is now on the iPhone, thanks to the excellent…
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2014 Energy Invitational Video

2014 Energy Invitational Video

As preparations continue for the 2015 UCI Energy Invitational,…
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UCI's 2015 Race Team

UCI’s 2015 Race Team

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UCI's 2015 Race Team UCI's 2015 race team at the Winter Design…
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2015 Energy Invitational

2015 UCI Energy Invitational

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The 2015 UCI Energy Invitational is scheduled for May 24,…
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Another version of the six-bar folding linkage

Another version of the six-bar folding linkage

This is a little more compact version of the six-bar folding…
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Six-bar linkage folds a structure

Six-bar linkage folds a structure

This six-bar linkage was designed to deploy and stow a structure.…
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Eight-bar Port Closure Tool

Eight-bar Port Closure Tool

This port closure tool curls back on itself to provide internal…
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Four-bar function generator

Four-bar function generator: Open a door

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Select this link, Four-bar linkages, for a Geogebra book…
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Long travel suspensions

Long-travel six-bar vehicle suspension

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Long travel suspensions Mark Plecnik has applied his research…
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Rescue Robotics: Project Based Learning

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UCI, Vital Link and Orange County high schools and colleges…
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Phantom

Phantom: The AI-UCI collaboration

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The aluminum body developed at Art Institute for our monocoque…
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Kinematics Summer School

Kinematics Summer School

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Profs. Carl Nelson and Anurag Purwar organized a Summer School…
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Introduction to Linkages

Introduction to Linkages

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Please select this link to open the Geogebra Book containing…
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JPL’s ATHLETE Rover Walks, Rolls, and Slides

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The ATHLETE Rover is a mixture of a wheeled rover and a walking…
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Linkage Design for Wing Flapping

Linkage Design for Wing Flapping

Mark Plecnik shows that six-bar function generators can be used…
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