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
Participation & Attendance: 40%

• Show up on time and participate! Lateness will hurt your grade. If you're going to be late or absent, please email me in advance. If you have an emergency, please let me know as soon as you can.

Project Work & Journal: 60%

• You are required to keep an online journal/blog of your work. At a minimum, reference to each week's work is expected, as well as reference to any readings, and thorough documentation of the production projects and technical research. Post progress, 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.
• More weight will be given to midterm and final projects.

Since the program is Pass/Fail, 80% and above will be considered Pass

Laptops and Phones

• Please keep your phone on silent/vibrate or off
• Laptops can be used to follow a reading we are discussing, during presentations or work sessions, and during CAD sessions. Otherwise, lids down. The quality of the class depends in large part on the quality of your attention and active participation.

Office Hours
Before class from 10-11am (look for me in the adjunct lounge). Also by appointment at my office at NYU-Poly (A/F train to Jay St, Rogers Hall 520B), and email me any time. Skype has a screen share feature that's also great for remote help. My Skype name is dustyn.roberts.

Reference Material
Required Text: Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists. In an effort to save trees and avoid copyright infringement, other 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.

There are a couple cheap, good books that I referenced heavily in my book that are good additional references:

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 at Makershed 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.