A machine uses power to apply forces to control movements. Think your body as a machine, we burn ATPs to generate muscle actuation, our muscles along with our skeletons form a machine so that we can turn the energy into various motions and tasks.

There are numerous of machines, and this course does not aim to enumerate them all. We hope that, by completing this course, you will not understand a machine only by its shape and shell, but you will interpret its soul – underlying mechanisms that why it is designed in this way.

Therefore, we start from the physics principles of how force generates motions; then, we talk about the design of typical mechanisms (linkage, cam, and gear); finally, we see a machine as a complete system and see how power is translated into desirable motions.

This course is thus divided into the following three sections:

• Section-1 Describing the motions            

We talk about classic mechanics of how to describe movements and how to relate force with motions.

• Section-2 Designing the mechanics         

We talk about the underlying principles of how typical mechanisms (linkage, cam, and spur gear) are designed.

• Section-3 Analysing the machines          

We combine from the power to force and the motion of a machine system and try to analysis how a complete machine operates and how to conceptualise a mechanical system.

The theories and the contents, by a first glance, may seem very intimidating. But no need to worry, we will use actual cases and tangible machine examples to walk through the theories, and eventually, you will be able to design machines that not only looks fine, but also performs great!

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– Course code: SMMG 3080 (3-credit)

– Pre-req: UFUG 1502 OR UFUG 1504 AND UFUG 1103 OR UFUG 1106