Category: For Students

For Students

2-D Mechanism Synthesis

Mechanism design and linkage synthesis is interrelated to each other. While kinematic analysis of any mechanism is done with the known math tools. However the inverse is quite complex.

For a given/designed mechanism, it is pretty easy to generate the motion of the mechanism, as the fundamental principles are taught to  mechanical engineering junior students. However it is not taught how to design a mechanism that draw a specific motion.

You can design any 2D mechanism in order to follow such a specific trajectory, with this application:  MotionGen (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/motiongen/index.php) . The application was created by Anurag Purwar (Stony Brook University). Here is short demonstration he presented:

The theory behind the MotionGen app is presented here in this video:

A Scientific Film : HIDDEN FIGURES

When I was with mathematicians, they were only talking about “proof, theory, fields, groups and rings and such things like that I don’t even have no idea”. When those mathematicians told me that they would watch a movie, I was surprised! I was thinking into myself that they don’t watch any movie, but they only do math!

The name of the movie which those mathematicians suggest was “Hidden Figures (2016)“. That movie was pretty fine, even though it was ‘HOLLYWOOD’ movie (I hate Hollywood movies actually).

In that movie, we can see how mathematics play a very critical role for the technology (Space Race between USA-USSR). Because of USSR pure mathematicians were so good at math, Russia was able to go to the space first, but America had to followed them after some time as a second nation who went to space. And even come back to earth again. Underlining of ‘And even come back to the earth’; because going to the space is easy part, but coming back to the earth safe is the more difficult part comparing for the first part.

Anyway, if you haven’t watched the movie before, I strongly recommend the movie for the engineers, or anyone who likes technology, computers, or space. We can see the real meaning of computer (not the machine one, but human computer). And how the new technology(coming of the first programable machine computers) affects the  human computers.

Applications of Kinematics

Ferdinand Freudenstein(12 May 1926 – 30 March 2006) who is being described as “Father of Modern Kinematics” has made great contributions to the kinematics and mechanics. As it is said that he had mentored 500 PhD students(That’s amazing and unbelievable!). One of them his student was  Arthur G. Erdman (now Professor at University at Minnesota, Mechanical Engineering Department, link to his website). Professor Arthur G. Erdman is giving a seminar related to why “Kinematic is a dead field” now as he said.  (It is a joke! Don’t waste your time to search the video how kinematics is dead!).

He is giving examples from very different areas where kinematics principles are applied. Therefore this video/ or slide might be used for the inroductory lecture session for the lecture of “Kinematic Design” or “Machine Theory”. He gives many great useful examples from daily life. Any lecturer might present this video on the first lecture of Machine Design, or he can give this video to the student as a homework to watch.

Additionally here you can find here another similar video from Dr. Bernard Roth (another PhD student of Ferdinand Freudenstein 🙂 ).

Information Theory

Here you can find some presentations on information theory at the basic level. However it is not restricted to information theory, but also evolution of science&engineering especially in communication, and some mathematical theories. I would highly recommend the 10th episode: Markov Chain.

 

Virtual Reality book – Greatest book I have seen so far

Professor Steven M. LaValle from University of Illinois (http://msl.cs.illinois.edu/~lavalle/index.html), prepared a significant book that is covering the virtual reality with all its aspects from different disciplines.

For the people who is interested in Virtual Reality book by Professor Steven M.LaVelle, here is the link: link1- http://vr.cs.uiuc.edu/ , link2-  http://vr.cs.uiuc.edu/vrbookbig.pdf

I would like to recomend that book not only for people with engineering background, but also to any person who is interested in new technology, history on technological development, human interactions with virtual reality equipments with no background in maths or engineering. He made this book free open to humanity, which I also beleive and support that free access to education materials. Thanks to him.

For the people who is interested in more technical details on Virtual Reality / Computer Graphics , here he made some online lectures free to access: link1- https://nptel.ac.in/courses/106106138/ , link2-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNC5YMUTcQ4&list=PLbMVogVj5nJSyt80VRXYC-YrAvQuUb6dh