MechanismsandThingsThatMove

• This is a tentative syllabus. Changes are likely (actually guaranteed) to happen throughout the semester.

Overview

• This class is designed to equip the student with a basic knowledge of mechanical engineering, materials, and component selection for practical use. Emphasis will be placed on finding and using affordable, everyday components for the hobbyist. Real-world, professional level components and technologies will also be covered in case studies and class examples. From kinetic sculptures to modern architecture, from product design to interactive art, learning how to create sound mechanical interfaces between inputs and outputs to a system helps us interpret and interact with our environments. There is little use in building effective circuitry for physical computing if the mechanism to be controlled is too weak to handle the task set forth for it. Systems can also be optimized and protected from expensive over-engineering with a basic knowledge of mechanics and materials. A breadth of topics will be covered ranging from how to attach couplers and shafts to a motor to converting between rotary and linear motion. Many topics will be presented in the form of competition, challenges, or group installations. Weekly lectures will be supplemented by in class demos and out of class lab work. Both Individual and group work will be required.

Prerequisite: Intro to Physical Computing

Grades

• Pass/Fail
• You are required to keep an online journal/blog of your work. Post progess, questions, pics, and links to your page linked on the 2010 Student Pages link on the sidebar. Use your NYU netid and password to log in.

Office Hours
Thursdays 4:30-6:30pm (before class) in the adjunct office. Also by appointment.

Reference Material
Unfortunately, there isn’t a good reference text that covers everything I would like to cover in this class. Fortunately, I'm writing one! Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists is being published by McGraw-Hill and should be on the shelves by Fall 2010. In the meantime, most of the “textbook” for this class will be formed by book chapters, journal articles, excerpts from periodicals and other useful material I find. I will either hand these resources out in class, direct you where to find them, or leave copies in the ER for your viewing pleasure. In an effort to save trees and avoid copyright infringement, handouts will be posted to the class blackboard site (under the Academics tag at NYU home). Additionally, if you find any valuable resources please bring them to my attention and I will inform the rest of the class.

That said, there are a couple cheap, good books I will be posting chapters from that are worth the money if you care to indulge yourself:

Designing Cost-Efficient Mechanisms: Minimum Constraint Design, Designing With Commercial Components, and Topics in Design Engineering\\ by Lawrence J. Kamm
(hard to find, will post on blackboard)

Basic Machines and How They Work
Prepared by the Naval Education and Training Program Development Center
($9 at Amazon)

Cabaret Mechanical Movement
by Aidan Lawrence Onn & Gary Alexander
Buy it for $19.95 from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, London or here for faster shipping

Building Robot Drive Trains
by Dennis Clark and Michael Owings ($18.45 at Amazon)

We will also be utilizing a handful of “Motorized Simple Machines Set” LEGO kits over the course of the semester. There are 219 very small, very lose-able pieces in this kit. Please take care of them as they will be reused after the semester. They will be available for checkout from the ER. Steer clear of duct tape, hot glue, or anything else that can leave residue on the parts. If you think you need these, you should read The Art of LEGO Design by Fred Martin. It’s a great LEGO building resource that covers everything from structural spacing to gear trains.