21st Century Kinematics
This is a draft of my editorial on 21st Century Kinematics for the Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics. It is a follow-up to my previous editorial on Kinematics, Polynomials and Computers. I would welcome your feedback.
2011 UCI Energy Invitational
UCI Energy Invitational
The 2011 UCI Energy Invitational will be at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park on March 22-23, 2011. The Streets of Willow Springs will be set up with a highway, autocross and staged idle sections to challenge the energy usage of all types of vehicles. How far can your vehicle travel in an hour on this course using only $1.00 of energy? Please contact me if you are interested.
Kinematics, Polynomials and Computers–A Brief History
Select this link to the .pdf of Kinematics, Polynomials, and Computers–A Brief History, which is a summary of the history of the kinematics of mechanisms and robotics with a focus on the challenge of solving the polynomial equations that arise in their study. It is a draft of my February 2011 editorial for the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics.
***Update*** This version has a correction to references [29] and [30].
Peugeot 407 Convertible Hard Top
This is a video on Yahoo! that shows the movement of the Convertible Hard Top of the Peugeot 407. The two side rails fold out from the back, and provide guides for the glass panels that move out to become the top.
Mathematica Notebook for Four-Bar Linkage Synthesis
Mathematica File for Linkage Synthesis
Select this link to download our Mathematica notebook for four-bar linkage synthesis. It will download as a textfile, so delete the .txt extension, then Mathematica should be able to read it. If you have an problems, please contact me.
This notebook is an example of the type of programs that I use to teach mechanism theory. In my courses students generate their own notebooks like this for the analysis and synthesis of various linkages. The program is not optimized in any way.
This particular notebook does provide a new capability. It uses a randomized search in tolerance zones near the required task positions to find linkages that do not have well-known defects. Cut and paste the text file output into our Mechanism Generator software to automatically generate a SolidWorks model of the linkage and task.
Hardtop Convertible Linkage
This SolidWorks animation of the drive linkage for a hardtop convertible was prepared by Oscar Alonso from U.S. Patent No. 7014247 (Dilluvio) and previous references.
Six-bar Trash Dumping Linkage
This compact six-bar linkage is designed to lift and dump a trash can. Eddie Lee, Peter Lim, Khemara Tep and Kevin Hung worked on the design and construction of the prototype.
This is the SolidWorks animation:
This is a video of the operation of the prototype:
Six-bar Shelf Linkage
This six-bar linkage is designed to move a shelf from a position down and forward to a stowed position up and away.
Monitor Six-bar Linkage
This video shows our latest model for the six-bar linkage that deploys and stows a television monitor. This was designed and built by Eddie Lee, Peter Lim, Khemara Tep and Kevin Hung.
This is a SolidWorks animation of this six-bar linkage:
This is a video of the prototype:
2010 Formula SAE California
The Formula SAE California collegiate race car engineering competition opened June 16, 2010 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Student built racecars from all over the world can be seen in photos from this first day of the event. Here is a link to photos of the first day and a link to the 2010 event guide
Pictures from Day 2 can be found at the SAE SoCal facebook page.
PIctures from Day 3 are now available as the Facebook album.
The results are available at the link FSAE California results.
2010 FSAE California