Freshman Design Innovation

Abstract

The proposed work seeks to leverage PIs latest research in simultaneous type and dimensional synthesis of mechanisms to design and develop an intuitive, multi-touch universal mechanism design application (app) for Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms for teaching machine design in a newly proposed Freshman Design Innovation class. The class to be offered for both off-- and on--line delivery through Open SUNY initiative will use the app as a machine design innovation tool for creating autonomous machines with the help of a take-home mechatronics kit in an active- and experiential-learning environment.

This app will also be integrated in upper division machine design classes to enhance students' learning of the machine design process and to help them innovate new devices. The app and the new course also seeks to make mechanism design accessible to non-experts, DIYers, and high school students, thereby enabling them to create machines and mechanisms that can execute useful tasks.

The pedagogical assessment on the effectiveness of the app and the course design and implementation expertise will be provided by Stony Brook University's Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Center.