Instructor

Anirban Guha

Semester

Spring ‘21

Course Difficulty

The course content is easy to understand. The basic idea is developing a generalized method to simulate kinematics and dynamics of varied mechanisms. (It might seem slightly trivial initially but is exceedingly useful in fact when one needs to deal with complex modular mechanisms, basically how a software like ADAMS would do things)

Time Commitment Required

Towards lower side. Weekly 3-4hrs around on average. Time is mainly required to work on the assignments.

Grading Policy and Statistics

AA 23
AB 20
BB 6
BC 5
CC 3
CD 1
DD 2
FR 3

(Late submissions of the assignments lead to a score penalty)

Attendance Policy

Attendance not mandatory

Pre-requisites

No mandatory prerequisites.
Linear Algebra and Calculus basics will help, KDoM course content will also help.

Evaluation Scheme

No exams. There were five assignments throughout the semester (including a course project). 3 assignments- Assignment 1, Term project 1 and Term project 2 were basically subpart submissions of a course project (to be worked upon and submitted by each student individually) : Select a mechanism (sufficiently complex) and analytically formulate the kinematics and dynamics and simulate (there were application and theory based questions on these which helped enhance the understanding of mechanisms). One assignment involved studying a research paper on innovation in the domain of Kinematics and Dynamics of Mechanisms and delivering a presentation. The last assignment was a programming assignment where we had to write a MATLAB (Octave) code to perform the kinematic analysis of a given mechanism using the generalized technique taught in class.

Weightages:
Assignment 1: Selection and study of a mechanism (10%)
Term Project 1: Kinematic Analysis of the mechanism (40%)
Term Project 2: Dynamic Analysis of the mechanism (20%)
Assignment 2: Study and Present a Paper (10%)
Assignment 3: Coding (20%)

Topics Covered in the Course

Generalized methodology to formulate and simulate the kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms with multiple joints and linkages. Elaborate course content can be found on asc.

Teaching Style

Professor used slides and wrote on them itself. Slides are elaborate and sufficient for understanding the course. Slides weren’t shared but one can take ss from the lec recording that was shared after every lecture.

The professor explains everything in detail, each mathematical step as well in the analytical formulations. The pace was considerably slow, the professor revised the content from the last lecture in the first 15 min before starting with the new content.

Tutorials/Assignments/Projects

Easy and interesting, moderately time consuming

How strongly would I recommend this course?

I’d highly recommend people who are interested in mechanics, kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms to take this course. Others who wish to explore the domain can also take it up, as the course content is easy to follow and interesting.

When to take this course?

I took the course in my 8th semester. The course can be taken in the third or fourth year in my opinion. But the prof had asked the thirdies to deregister during my time.

Review By: Radha Lahoti