Entries by Chris McCarthy

Type Synthesis, Assur Groups, and Rigidity

These lecture notes introduce students to research on classifying linkage systems which involves a variety of ideas such as Assur groups, Baranov trusses, and Rigidity theory.  Organizing the increasing complexity of machine systems to guide inventors has attracted researchers for literally generations and has generally been called “Type synthesis.”  The goal is to provide a systematic way to explore the types […]

Rescue Robotics: Project Based Learning

UCI, Vital Link and Orange County high schools and colleges are working together to organize a Rescue Robotics event in May of 2015. The Rescue Robotics challenge provides an opportunity for students in information and communication technology programs across Orange County to test their skills using ground and aerial robots to find and identify simulated […]

Lamina Emergent Mechanisms

BYU Professor Larry Howell studies lamina emergent mechanisms, in other words, machines that emerge from flat pieces of material. If you think about the subtly complex movement of a children’s pop-up book, the way a page elegantly untucks itself to display a scene and then tucks itself back in, you wouldn’t be too far off.  […]

DNA Origami Mechanisms and Machines

Professors Carlos Castro and Haijun Su have developed what they call DNA Origami Machines and Mechanisms to pave the way for new small scale devices that could revolutionize medicine, manufacturing, and environmental sensing. DNA Mechanisms made from links of relatively rigid dsDNA bundles joined by soft ssDNA strands have the potential to provide machines for […]

3D Printed Demining Training Aids

Training people to diffuse landmines and other live ordnance left behind in conflict areas has always been a difficult thing. Successfully training Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technicians requires hands-on education that gives the technician a true understanding of how a triggering mechanism inside live ordnance actually functions. For this reason, this kind of education requires […]