About Course

Course Synopsis What are Compliant Mechanisms? Learning Objectives Why Take this Course? Prerequisite
Skills/Knowledge Schedule About the Instructors Apply

Design of Flexures and Compliant Mechanisms: Fundamentals and Practical Application [2.90s]

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Date: July 10-11, 2008 | Tuition: $1,500 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 1.5

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* Course schedule and registration times

Course synopsis

Intensive coverage of compliant mechanism theory, modeling, design and fabrication practices. Emphasis is placed on understanding fundamentals, how they were applied to prior art and how they are pertinent to current and next generation applications. Practical applications of theory & principles are demonstrated via examples drawn from:

• Biomedical instruments
• Consumer products
• Nanopositioners
• MEMS
• Biomimetics
• Robotics

What are compliant mechanisms?

Compliant mechanisms (CMs) are mechanical devices which provide smooth and controlled motion guidance due to the deformation of some or all of the mechanism's components. Compliant mechanisms may be multi-piece devices or monolithic (single-piece) devices. CMs do not require sliding, rolling or other types of contact bearings often found in rigid mechanisms. These characteristics enable CMs to achieve reliable, high-performance motion control at low cost.

Although engineered compliant mechanisms/systems have been used for over a century in specialized applications, recent advances in synthesis and modeling tools have enabled the practical use of this technology beyond academic research and specialized applications.

This course was designed to provide an overview of the fundamentals and the recent advances which in combination will enable engineers to transform compliant mechanism concepts into practice.

Learning Objectives

1. Examine the suitability of compliant mechanisms for specific applications.
2. Understand the various quantitative and qualitative approaches to synthesis and modeling of compliant mechanisms.
3. Understand the metrics that are used to determine the performance of compliant mechanisms.
4. Understand the physics that govern the behavior of compliant mechanisms.
5. Identify the practical issues that are important to address during integration/implementation.
6. Construct a compliant mechanism prototype and examine its performance via a hands-on design project.

Why take this course?

The purpose of this short-course is to provide participants with the proper perspective, proven design approaches, modeling tools, and the practical knowledge which will enable them to:

• Assess the suitability of compliant mechanisms for specific applications
• Choose an appropriate design approach for synthesis and modeling of compliant mechanisms
• Understand the types of available modeling approaches and complementary design/analysis tools
• Understand the practical issues which are important to address during integration/implementation
• Obtain hands-on experience with various compliant devices
• Teach compliant mechanism design: There will be a special session to cover this topic.

Upon completion, participants will possess the basic knowledge and skills required to conceptualize, model, fabricate and integrate CMs into practical products, equipment and instrumentation.

Prerequisite skills/knowledge

Prof. Culpepper can point participants to appropriate sources which provide short reviews of the required prerequisite materials.

Participants who have an undergraduate degree in engineering or a technical field (e.g. physics, material science, etc...) will generally have the appropriate background knowledge. Participants are assumed to have a technical undergraduate degree in which the following have been covered at an undergraduate level:

• Mechanics (free body diagrams, dynamics, natural frequency)
• Trigonometry (basic trigonometric relationships, sine, cosine, etc...)
• Materials (relationships between stress and strain)

The course materials will include brief technical reviews of the relevant components of these subjects.

Course schedule and registration times

Class runs 8:00 am - 5:00 pm on Thursday and from 8:00 am - 3:30 pm on Friday.

Registration is on Thursday morning from 7:45 - 8:00 am.

Day 1
Focuses on modeling, design, fabrication & assembly. At the end of Day 1, students design a device (compliant airfoil, precision positioning stage, or bistable switch) that will be fabricated via rapid prototyping on Day 2.

Day 2
Begins with coverage of materials issues & applications, then ends with hands-on experiments on the fabricated devices.

Get more information on this course at: http://pcsl.mit.edu/professional_courses/professional_courses_2008.html

About the Instructors

Martin Culpepper (Program contact: culpepper@mit.edu)
Prof. Culpepper is Director of the MIT Precision Compliant Systems Laboratory. Prof. Culpepper's areas of expertise include include:
 - Constraint-based synthesis and modeling of compliant mechanisms
 - Fabrication and integration compliant mechanisms and elastic systems
 - Carbon Nanotube-based compliant mechanisms

Professor Culpepper was honored at the White House in 2005--click here to read the article

Prof. Larry Howell
Prof. Howell is Director of the Compliant Mechanisms Research Group (CMR) at BYU and author of the book Compliant Mechanisms.  Prof. Howell's areas of expertise include:
 - Pseudo-rigid body modeling and synthesis of compliant mechanisms
 - Implementation of compliant mechanisms for consumer products
 - Microelectromechanical Systems

Prof. Sridhar Kota
Prof. Kota is Director of the Compliant Systems Design Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Prof. Kota's areas of expertise include:
 - Topological synthesis of compliant mechanisms
 - Biomimetic compliant mechanisms
 - Adaptive structures