design principles for precision mechanisms

Course Content

This course will address the conceptual approach to designing precision mechanisms such as manipulators, scientific instruments and precision equipment. It especially focuses on the mechanical aspects in a (mechatronic) system context Also attention is devoted to essential "details" making the difference between a good and bad construction.

Important subjects to be addressed include:

Light-weight and stiff design: optimal material usage
Exact constraint design: design approaches based on degrees of freedom thinking
Flexure design: leaf spring mechanisms, cross pivots
Friction, hysteresis, fixing and micro-slip
Kinematic couplings

Furthermore a number of design cases will be presented

Participant(s) Profile

Postgraduate engineers

Tutorial Outcome

After the course the participant has insight into conceptual approaches to designing precision mechanisms and, on the basis of that insight, will be able to: identify problem areas, generate alternatives and make a choice. He has been given examples of how to translate principle concepts into practical design, which will help the attendee to propose solutions to mechanical issues in his own daily practice.

Brief CV(s)

Tutor 1: Prof. ir. Herman Soemers >>>

Tutor 2: Dr. Dannis Brouwer >>>

Tutor 3: Assoc. Prof. Martin Culpepper >>>