Mechanisms and Things that Move
H79.2624 Lecture 4 Credits
Instructor: Dustyn Roberts of Honeybee Robotics
This class is designed to equip the student with a basic knowledge of mechanical engineering, materials, and component selection for practical use. From kinetic sculptures to modern architecture, from product design to interactive art, learning how to create sound mechanical interfaces between inputs and outputs to a system helps us interpret and interact with our environments. There is little use in building effective circuitry for physical computing if the mechanism to be controlled is too weak to handle the task set forth for it. Systems can also be optimized and protected from expensive overengineering with a basic knowledge of mechanics and materials. Topics covered range from how to attach couplers and shafts to a motor to converting between rotary and linear motion. Weekly lectures are supplemented by in class demos and out of class lab work.
Thesis
H79.2102 Lecture 4 Credits
Instructor: Jonah Brucker-Cohen
This course is designed to help students define and execute their final thesis project in a setting that is both collegial and critical. It is structured as a series of critique and presentation sessions in which various aspects of individual projects will be discussed: the project concept, the elaboration, the presentation, the process and time-table, the resources needed to accomplish it, and the documentation. Critique sessions will be a combination of internal sessions (i.e., the class only) and reviews by external guest critics. Students are expected to complete a fully articulated thesis project description and related documentation. Final project prototypes will be displayed both on the web and in a public showcase either in May or the following semester.