Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Nordenholz, California Maritime Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

will be presented.Finally, there will be a short section describing the basic techniques used by the author toprogram the animation filesI. Introduction.Several engineering educators 1-5 have written on the use of animation in dynamics, vibrations,and controls courses. Certainly, the theory behind the motion of mechanical systems ismathematical and difficult for many students to grasp, and the animation of these systemsprovides enhanced understanding and motivation. Page 11.215.2One common approach to animation involves the use of commercial software such as WorkingModel that simulates motion from objects drawn by the user without any

Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salim Haidar, Grand Valley State University; Ali Mohammadzadeh, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

model example, we propose to evaluate the position, velocity and the time at which the 1pound block leaves the surface of a cylindrical surface on which it slides. The block is assumedto have an initial velocity V0 at the top of the cylinder and is subject to a constraint friction forceof kinetic coefficient of friction, µk (See Figure 1). To achieve a stable numerical solution, weassume, without loss of generality, a specific initial speed of 10 ft/s for the block and considerthe coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and surface to be zero in one case and 0.2 inthe other. The radius of cylinder, r = 5 ft. V0 r

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Szmerekovsky, AFIT; Brian Self, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

drives the interactive classroom experience,enhancing the students’ critical thinking, problem solving ability, and conceptual understanding.JiTT ExamplesTwo example WarmUps are shown below, one for Dynamics (see Figure 1) and one forMechanics of Materials (see Figure 2). Some sample student responses are provided for eachexample, followed by a discussion on how the instructor might interweave these answers into thelesson.Dynamics. In the first question, students are asked to answer a conceptual question. This type ofquestion can be used to encourage students to read the text, to require them to think at a deeperlevel, or just to introduce the material. The second question is conceptual and requires thestudent to think about what can happen

Conference Session

What's New in Mechanics of Materials?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Hennessey, University of St. Thomas; Luke Hacker, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

-stress as the differential cube rotates,visualization is typically static. What is needed is a true 3D dynamic visualization tool thatpermits one to visualize an arbitrary state-of-stress from the perspective of continuously varyingand arbitrary 3D differential cube orientations, parameterized by a time varying rotation matrix,such as that driven by an Euler matrix with 3 time varying angles.The objective of this educational research project is to: (1) develop the mathematics that permitone to arbitrarily change the orientation of a differential cube and determine the stresses in thenew coordinate system (i.e. 3D tensor change of bases), (2) create a corresponding computer-aided-engineering (CAE) software tool using primarily MATLAB® and

Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Dong, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

Engineering Department torevamp the 2nd year engineering series. The task was to invigorate the students in the College ofArchitecture and Environmental Design (CAED) - all of whom are required to take engineeringcourses – with the goal of increasing pass rates and increasing interest in the subject. In thecollege, Architectural Engineering, Architecture, and Construction Management majors arerequired to take traditional statics and strength of materials courses so this was no small task.During the conceptual stages of course development, six key issues (the 6 I’s) were identified tomake the new series a success: 1. Increase effective contact time 2. Incorporate tactile (kinesthetic) learning1 versus aural (passive) learning in order to

Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shane Palmquist, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

engineering education and practice. One such project involving an inspection of ahistoric truss bridge is discussed herein.II. Historic Truss Bridge ProjectStudents working in teams actively participated in a class project involving a preliminaryinspection of a local steel truss bridge. A dead load analysis of the truss superstructure based onas-built conditions was performed.College Street BridgeCollege Street Bridge is a four-span, steel, truss structure which crosses the Barren River inBowling Green, Kentucky (see Figures 1 and 2). Spans 1 through 3 are through trusses, andspan 4 is a pony truss. The historic bridge was built in 1915 and presently serves as a pedestrianbridge. The top chord truss members and the vertical truss members of the

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Madhukar Vable, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

Conference Session

What's New in Statics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

pushbutton is clicked,the GUI invokes the action described on the label of that button in conjunction with the textboxinput, slider input, pull-down menu, or toggle button requirements. One of the best advantagesof the using GUI verses traditional programming is that in GUI it is not necessary to beknowledgeable in programming. Eliminating this requirement forces students to focus on thesubject matter, rather than on debugging and editing programs or learning how to program. Theapplication can also be compiled into a window-based executable format or integrated into JAVAapplets 1.MATLAB is a widely easy-to-use technical computing language that integrates computation,visualization, and programming. More than 800 MatLab-based books are available for

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Louis Everett, University of Texas-El Paso; Arunkumar Pennathur; Elsa Villa, University of Texas-El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

produce results and began to applytheory covered in class. This paper presents some of the modules or challenge problems that were used in the course.The authors did not create these problems: they were copied from a number of sources anddeveloped to the point that they have classroom materials associated with them. The paper alsopresents the design problem and gives a web link to download the modules and the design. Thesoftware simulations used in class are described and discussed; and assessment of studentattitudes before and after these “interventions” is presented.1 This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-0411320

Conference Session

Engaging the Online Classroom

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Matthew M. Barry, University of Pittsburgh; Samantha E. Wismer; Tony Lee Kerzmann, University of Pittsburgh; Lee Allen Dosse, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

well-documented in-class activities that increase student engagement and learning, such as in-personand computer-based think-pair-share activities [1],[2] and polling [3]. There are alsocomplementary out-of-class activities that augment in-class learning by fortifying key concepts.Flipped course formats within traditional synchronous [4]-[6] and asynchronous instruction [7],and more recently the use of Makerspaces [8]-[10] are examples of these activities. An often-overlooked area of out-of-class instruction is the ability to effectively utilize a textbook throughoutthe various stages of learning. To this end, an interactive textbook was developed in the Top Hatsoftware platform and implemented in a sophomore-level Statics and Mechanics of

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Techniques in Mechanics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ing-Chang Jong, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

. A virtual work is the work done by force ormoment during a virtual displacement of the body. Fig. 1 Compatible virtual displacement of body AB to position A¦B¦In virtual work method, compatible virtual displacements (besides rigid-body virtual displace-ments) are to be used, where second-order (not first-order) straining of members in a system ispermitted in drawing virtual displacement diagrams. This may initially come across as beingagainst the grain of the usual mentality of rigid bodies held for Statics. Notwithstanding, a work-ing definition is in order. As shown in Fig. 1, a compatible virtual displacement of a body ABis an imaginary displacement resulting from a first-order differential angular displacement fs ofthe body

Conference Session

Enhancing Instruction in Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir H. Danesh-Yazdi, Pennsylvania State University, Erie, Behrend College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

theFBDs of two- or three-dimensional particles, single rigid bodies and structures to be correctlydiagrammed and analyzed from a mechanics perspective. The steps are outlined below and willbe applied to three example static cases.Step 1: External forces/moments Define a coordinate system and draw every external force and moment, including the weight (if applicable), that is acting on the entire mechanical system. Also, find the equivalent concentrated load for any external distributed forces present in the system.Step 2: Separate everything! Separate the particles and bodies present in the system from one another and the ground or any other support and draw all of the forces and moments acting on each of the individual

Conference Session

Teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiaobin Le P.E., Wentworth Institute of Technology; Anthony William Duva P.E., Wentworth Institute of Technology; John Voccio, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Richard L Roberts, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Ali Reza Moazed, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

implementation ofthe proposed procedure was statistically significantly higher than the exam average score in thesections without the implementation of the procedure. A survey was conducted in the classesregarding the proposed procedure. The feedback information from the survey was very positive.This paper will also present these results of the data analysis of the student survey.1. IntroductionFor a mechanical engineering program, one of the main learning outcomes is that students candesign machine components. To design a safe component, students are required to apply theappropriate failure theories to evaluate the factor of safety at possible weak points. In order toapply failure theories for evaluating the factor of safety, students must know the

Conference Session

Addressing the Human Dimension in Teaching Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacob Preston Moore, Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto; Chris Venters, East Carolina University; Tracey Carbonetto, Penn State University, Lehigh Valley

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

metals and piping industry as a principal engineer have allowed me to promote necessary skills which need to be developed in the classroom so that the students have success upon graduation. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 The Retention and Usefulness of Concept Maps as Advance Organizers1. Introduction:A concept map is a type of node-link diagram designed to show the interconnected knowledgestructures that a person possesses in a particular subject area [1]. The diagram consists of nodes,representing key concepts in the given subject area, and links representing key relationshipsbetween those concepts. An example of a concept map of engineering structures can be seen inFigure 1 below

Conference Session

Teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Somnath Chattopadhyay, University at Buffalo, SUNY; Jerry Qu, University at Buffalo ; Adres Nuri, University at Buffalo ; Syed Ali Hasan, University at Buffalo; Nilanjan Kundu, University at Buffalo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

analytically is to assume anelastic-perfectly plastic representation of the stress-strain curve. For the case of torsion, this wouldbe the shear stress vs. shear strain curve as shown in Figure 1. The shear stress varies linearly withshear strain in the elastic region, and reaches a constant value and stays constant in the plasticregion. Sometimes this representation is termed as one of “zero hardening.” However, mostductile materials exhibit strain hardening where in the plastic region, the shear stressmonotonically increases with shear strain. Figure 1There are two analogies to study elastic and elastic-plastic torsion, and are described below.The Membrane Analogy for Elastic TorsionAn analogy between the elastic

Conference Session

Enhancing Instruction in Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Austin Creasy, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

because students in the academic program where these GUIs areimplemented have access to Matlab through lab computers and online using a remote internetsite with university login credentials.The developed GUI has three plot windows. The top window is a figure of the beam with theapplied loads presented for analysis. The middle window is an area reserved for the student todraw the shear diagram on provided axes. The bottom window is a figure reserved for thestudent to draw the moment diagram on provided axes. Figure 1 shows an example of one of theshear and moment diagram GUIs developed that was provided to the students as a homeworkassignment. The beam with the geometry and loading is shown at the top with the beamboundary conditions. The axes

Conference Session

Addressing the Human Dimension in Teaching Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Norman Reese P.E., LeTourneau University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

demonstration made them wantto. This paper summarizes the results of that effort as well as suggestions for those consideringsuch interdisciplinary activities.Background:Much research has been done on the use of demonstrations in various math, science andengineering courses. Some of the literature describes specific demonstration apparatus andtechnique, with the underlying assumption that demonstrations are of value [1, 2, 3]. Manyprojects go a step further and report subsequent student comments, either as verbal responses inclass, special surveys, or the typical end-of-term student evalutions [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Studentsgenerally report increased understanding of the technical concept and a better understanding ofthe course relevance. However

Conference Session

Learning Environments for Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Allen Evenhouse, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Rohit R. Kandakatla, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Nick A. Stites, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Nimit Patel, McKinsey & Company; Austin Zadoks, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Taylor Prebel, Purdue University; Claudio Cesar Silva de Freitas, Purdue University; Charles Morton Krousgrill, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Edward J. Berger, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Jeffrey F. Rhoads, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Jennifer Deboer, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

one, and only one,of these instructional activities. These activities are further clarified using two other sets of codesdescribing which instructional practices (A, B, C, or P to indicate Passive instruction) are beingemployed by the instructor, and how many (None, Some, or All) of the students the instructor isintending to draw into Active learning. These codes and their relationships to one another arefurther defined in Table 1 below. In the Characterization and Degree of Engagement columns, wealso lay out what relationships, if any, have been built into the coding scheme in order to facilitategreater reliability between the coders. The word “Forced” indicates codes that are forciblyactivated when the given event is selected. Likewise

Conference Session

Enhancing Instruction in Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rania Al-Hammoud P.Eng., University of Waterloo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

students still get the problem wrongafter the second attempt, they are directed through D2L to sub-questions of the problem to knowwhich part of the problem the student is lacking the understanding of. This allows D2L to directthe student to the proper revision material required to understand the concept. Note that thestudents only get credit for the quiz if they get the right answer before class time but they areallowed unlimited trials until they get the correct answer. Figure 1 shows a flowchart thatrepresents the procedure used in D2L.Figure 1Flow chart showing the Interactive Online ModuleDuring class time that follows, the instructor summarizes the concept covered through D2L andfollows it by a problem session. The instructor then posts a

Conference Session

Addressing the Human Dimension in Teaching Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sean Moseley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

social context all throughout the course—not just at the beginning or in open-ended designproblems—is important to establish such context as an important part of the things that engineersthink about and discuss.Figure 1. A contextualized particle equilibrium problem asks students to go beyond thenumerical answer and consider the role of engineers in communicating danger to the public.The first example, shown in Figure 1, addresses particle equilibrium from early in a typicalstatics course. This topic is often familiar to students from their physics classes. The struggle isto get students to use the engineering approach and correct vector math in a problem where thescalar versions of the equations are easy to see. The context and reflection for

Conference Session

Enhancing Instruction in Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anna K. T. Howard, North Carolina State University; Matthew T. Stimpson, North Carolina State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

who needStatics. Flipped classes work best with teams of students who can attack a problem together.7 Weknow that about 3% of students at NCSU are nonresident aliens, many with English as a secondlanguage; language difficulties can can hinder the effectiveness of the group for the flippedclass.8 Returning students who are much older than their peers, parents with young children, andstudents with disabilities can struggle to succeed in a group of 19-year-olds. More than 55% ofour sophomores hold job; 81% of those work off campus.1 Students with social anxiety can alsostruggle.9This project sought to determine whether a student who was released from the need to come toclass could be just as effective as one who was forced to come to class and

Conference Session

Learning Environments for Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Soledad, Virginia Tech and Ateneo de Davao University; Jacob R. Grohs, Virginia Tech; Jennifer Doggett; Steven Culver, Virginia Tech; Jaime L. Williams

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

routinely collected by the institution for non-researchpurposes (e.g. evidence for tenure and promotion), but contain rich, descriptive information thatwe believe is worthy of qualitative analysis for research purposes. The data was provided by theoffice that facilitated the administration of the surveys and stored survey responses. It containedno information that identified respondents, and code names were generated and used to replacenames and references to the course instructor wherever these appeared. We also sought reviewand approval of our study protocol from our Institutional Review Board prior to requesting forand analyzing the data.We focused on responses to four open-ended items (3,917 responses); these items are listed inTable 1. The

Conference Session

Teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yan Tang, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ., Daytona Beach

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

comprehensive set of instructional principles based on human cognitivelearning processes [1-2]. Since our working memory can only process 7±2 items at one time,learning will be hindered if information to be processed exceeds those limits [1-2]. Based on thisrule, cognitive load theory provides specific instructional guidelines which minimize wastedmental resources and put limited mental resources to work in ways to maximize learning.Cognitive Load imposed on working memory can be divided into two categories: intrins iccognitive load and extraneous cognitive load [2]. As indicated by the names, intrinsic cognitiveload refers to the mental work determined by the intrinsic nature of learning materials that thelearner needs to acquire for achieving

Conference Session

Assessment & Grading in Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen N. Kuchnicki, York College of Pennsylvania; Scott F. Kiefer, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

students who did not pass the course, and that the data are typically gatheredfrom multiple assessment events (e.g., exam problems). As such, a student may perform poorlyon one or two of these assessment events, yet perform well enough on others to still pass the course.The learning outcomes for the Strength of Materials course are available in Table 1; the MachineDesign course outcomes are present in Table 2. These outcomes are left broad by design; eachoutcome is intended to encompass several topics within the course. For example, outcome 1 inTable 1, since it deals with axial stress and strain, covers such areas as stress due to forces, Hooke’slaw, pressure vessels, and stress due to bending. Therefore, each outcome may be assessed severaltimes

Conference Session

Teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan Barrage, University of Waterloo; G Wayne Brodland P.Eng., University of Waterloo; Rania Al-Hammoud P.Eng., University of Waterloo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

; this approach can be problematic as the examplesshown are not universal. In trying to solve problems by relating them to a few fundamental cases,the students sacrifice adaptability, and in turn forgo critical thinking.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate a means of building intuition in students throughexperiential learning, so that they can have a gut feeling for how the system works. Experientiallearning is often referred to as ”learning through reflection on doing” 1 . Felder and Silverman 2state that “babies do not come into life with a set of general principles, but rather observe theworld and define inferences”.The learning models of Kurt Lewin 3 , John Dewey 3 , Jean Piaget 3,6 , as well as Benjamin Bloom’sTaxonomy 4,5 , will assist

Conference Session

Teaching Statics, Dynamics, and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Derek James Lura PhD, Florida Gulf Coast University; Ashraf Badir P.E., Florida Gulf Coast University; Robert O'Neill P.E., Florida Gulf Coast University; Long Duy Nguyen P.E., Florida Gulf Coast University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

delivery. Thus far we have concluded that the use oftraditional hand-written homework, frequent assessment via quizzes [1], or the PearsonMastering Engineering [2] software for formative assessment did not have a significant impacton students’ performance on exams. It was also observed that neither traditional nor onlinehomework scores correlated well with exam scores, however in-class quizzes did correlate withfinal exam scores. In this paper we hope to look longitudinally at the data collected over thestudy period, as well as the impact of modifications to the Mastering Engineering Online system,specifically the inclusion of the Adaptive Follow-Up modules. Adaptive follow-up assignmentsare reported to promote directed learning by analyzing

Conference Session

Assessment & Grading in Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University; John Haglund, Texas A&M University, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

large public institution during fall 2016, along with asmaller group of students used in a pilot study during spring 2016. The paper will describe: 1)details on the alpha and beta versions of the FBD instrument developed; 2) early lessons learned;and 3) results from approximately 250 engineering students who took the beta version of theinstrument. After administering the instrument and analyzing the results, faculty members have abetter idea of the skill set of students in the course and can adjust course instructionappropriately. Furthermore, there will be evidence to examine the extent to which students areprepared related to free body diagrams at the end of a core engineering science course.IntroductionEngineering faculty members have long

Conference Session

Addressing the Human Dimension in Teaching Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Davishahl, Whatcom Community College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

. Survey administration earlyin the term collects formative assessment information for the instructor and sets a baseline formonitoring student learning. The survey items serve as a study guide for course exams andfacilitate student self-assessment. End of course survey responses provide summativeassessment data to evaluate student progress, new teaching methods, and/or curriculum changes.Most knowledge surveys ask students to report their confidence level on a three-point scale thatgenerally breaks down as follows:  1 point indicates little or no confidence they can complete the task.  2 points indicates at least 50% confidence.  3 points indicates 100% confidence they can execute the task with accuracy.This approach allows the

Conference Session

Mechanics Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julian Ly Davis, University of Southern Indiana; Tom McDonald, University of Southern Indiana; Jenna Kloosterman, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

of their effectiveness, haveproliferated STEM [1]–[9] and business disciplines [10]–[13]. Penner et al. provide a summaryof the findings of 7 studies and the “overall assessment” of the corresponding studies, since 2001[3]. They show that there are mixed results from their survey of studies. However, there isgenerally support for using online homework in classes along with traditional (hand written)homework. Only a few studies have investigated if the mixture of online and hand written homeworkaffects student performance on graded events [14]–[16]. One study found improvement inoverall grades of a Chemistry course, but suggest that scores may have been improved further ifstudents had practiced writing organic compounds by hand [14

Conference Session

Mechanics Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Sonya Dick, California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo; Jay Tyler Davis II, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Bradley Wash, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

. Although graphs and stopmotion photography can be used to infer continuous motion, it can still be difficult to getstudents to appreciate the changing velocities and accelerations involved in the motion ofparticles and rigid bodies. To help overcome this, we have incorporated the use of an advancedmotion analysis system into several of our courses at Cal Poly.The use of motion analysis is nothing new – in fact the physics community has been using suchtechnology for years [1-3]. Some investigators have worked to develop their own motionanalysis software [4] to get around the high costs of most motion capture systems, and othershave recognized the advanced image processing capabilities of MatLab to perform motiontracking [5] (http