Radhakrishnan, P., & Galvan, A., & Brown, D. (2022, August), A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41393

\bibitem{asee_peer_41393}
  Radhakrishnan, P., \& Galvan, A., \& Brown, D. (2022, August), \emph{A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms}
  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.
  10.18260/1-2--41393

Pradeep Radhakrishnan, Alexander Galvan, and David Brown.  "A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms".  2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August.  ASEE Conferences, 2022.  https://peer.asee.org/41393 Internet.  26 May, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_41393}
  Pradeep Radhakrishnan, Alexander Galvan, and David Brown.
  "A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms".
  \emph{2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2022.
  https://peer.asee.org/41393 Internet.  26 May, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_41393
author = "Pradeep Radhakrishnan, Alexander Galvan, and David Brown"
title = "A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms"
booktitle = "2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2022"
month = "August"
address = "Minneapolis, MN"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/41393}
number = {10.18260/1-2--41393}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Designing a planar mechanism for an application is a challenging activity. There are various modeling tools (linkage specific and generic CAD tools) available for this purpose, but users are expected to have a certain level of expertise to effectively use these tools. They often take a black box approach whereby no other information between the input and output will be available. Information such as equilibrium equations, loop equations for kinematic analyses, static forces, etc. will be helpful for students as they learn these topics in different courses. For the teaching team, availability of this information will save considerable time while evaluating student work and providing feedback. 

To enhance student understanding of mechanism design and analysis, and for complementing existing course work, a browser-based application called PMKS+ (Planar Mechanism Kinematic Simulator Plus) is being developed and tested in different courses at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The tool is being designed in such a way that novice users will be able to extract maximum benefit. Mechanisms consisting of different joints (revolute and prismatic), and links of various shapes, can be sketched and analyzed. The analyses that have been integrated include kinematics, and force analyses (static equilibrium and Newton’s second law). Data from these analyses can be viewed as plots or exported into a spreadsheet for further analysis and interpretation. Equations corresponding to various analyses can also be viewed in the application. The application was tested in two mechanism-related courses multiple times at WPI where students compared the software generated results with their own MATLAB implementation. The availability of the software also helped the teaching team improve the feedback quality during office hours and help sessions. The student feedback has been highly positive with respect to software usability and applicability to coursework. The paper will discuss the application development, implementation in a course, feedback, and future activities. 

AU  - Pradeep Radhakrishnan
AU  - Alexander Galvan
AU  - David Brown
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A tool to analyze and synthesize planar mechanisms
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41393
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41393
ER  -