MechAnalyzer: 3D simulation software to teach kinematics of machines

Abstract

Theory of Machine course includes kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms and machines. Though it is an important part of Mechanical Engineering curriculum, it is often difficult for teachers to teach and students to learn the concepts related to mechanisms, by just following text-books. With physical prototypes or virtual mechanisms in a software environment, the course can be taught in a lucid and effective way. While several commericial and free software exist that can be used to compliment the teaching and learning, a significant amount of time is required to learn the software first, and then use it. In this paper, MechAnalyzer (Version 3) software is presented which has a very simple to use interface and an easy learning curve. An user can select from any of the available mechanism and change the input parameters. A 3D model of the selected mechanism with linkages and joints are generated and shown to the user in a 3D environment, whose motion can be animated and seen. The main advantage of MechAnalyzer is that it has been developed as a framework with modules making it easier for developers to add new mechanisms. The authors would like to include as many mechanisms as possible to make it a digital library of mechanism and perform analyses on them. � 2015, Indian Institute of Technology, IIT. All rights reserved.