Teun Koetsier, A History of Kinematics from Zeno to Einstein, On the role of motion in the development of mathematics, Springer Science Publishers, 2024
The word kinematics was introduced in the 19th century by the French physicist Ampère. For him, it was a sub-discipline of mechanics in which movement is studied independently of forces and masses.
The movements studied in kinematics are usually geometric structures consisting of collections of positions of, for example, a point or a line in a Euclidean plane or space. Such structures play an important role not only in mechanics but also in geometry and in the theory of machines.
In the first half of this book, the author shows that movement played a crucial role in the development of mathematics in Classical Antiquity and in the 17th century. This often concerned kinematic definitions of curves.
At first, the movement was only supportive, but gradually in the 17th and 18th centuries the movement itself became the subject of research. The author discusses in detail the developments that preceded Ampère. This led in the 19th century, on the one hand, to theoretical kinematics, in which the general properties of movement are considered, and, on the other hand, to kinematics of mechanisms, in which the properties of specific movements are investigated.
The 19th-century developments in the kinematics of mechanisms were greatly stimulated by mechanical engineering, which took off after the Industrial Revolution. A golden age dawned for kinematics. The developments in Germany, in which the work of Franz Reuleaux and Ludwig Burmester played a central role, receive a lot of attention in the book.
The book ends with Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which partly arose from the role that kinematics played in theoretical mechanics. The problems surrounding the movement of light challenged the traditional view of space and time. The book ends with an outline of the role that kinematics played in the 20th century, particularly in relation to mechanical engineering.
Prof. Teun Koetsier (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is a historian and philosopher of mathematics with a specific interest in the history of machines. In 2019, he published ‘The Ascent of GIM, the Global Intelligent Machine, A History of Production and Information Machines’. GIM is the successor of the Internet of things. It is, in fact, a giant robotic machine that covers the globe. It is no science fiction. It exists and grows and gets smarter and smarter.
Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms: Using Excel® and Geogebra
The book covers classical geometrical methods and modern analytical methods in the kinematic synthesis of mechanisms. The methods discussed are all implemented geometrically using Geogebra and analytically using Excel®. After a brief history of how machine science has developed throughout history from the viewpoint of mechanism design, two, three, four, and five-position syntheses of mechanisms are issued. Geometrical and analytical methods of guiding a rigid body between the given positions, path generation with prescribed timing, and correlation of crank angles are covered. Using the relative motion concept, the position synthesis of six-link mechanisms is also considered. Roberts-Chebyshev theorem is described and proved, and the use of the theorem in practice is shown. The book also explains the design of mechanisms that convert a continuous rotary motion into an oscillating or reciprocating motion. Freudenstein’s equation for three, four, and five precision points and the least squares method for function generation using Freudenstein’s equation are explained. Developments made in Russian school on mechanism synthesis, starting with Chebyshev, are discussed. Finally, the application of optimization in mechanism design is shown with examples. Solver tool as an add-in in Excel® is used, which provides a simple, fast, and easy-to-use platform for optimizing mechanisms.
Book’s URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30955-7
Book supplementary materials web page: http://makted.org.tr/en/kinematic-synthesis-of-mechanisms/
About the author:
Eres Söylemez received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in 1974 under the supervision of Ferdinand Freudenstein. He worked as a faculty member at Middle East Technical University (1974-1985 / 1989-2013) and Gazi University (1985-1989). He served as the chair of Department of Mechanical Education at Gazi University (1987-1988), the president of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (SAGE) (1989-1995), the president of Measuring, Selection and Placement Center of Turkey (OSYM) (1995-1996), the chair of Department of Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University, the president of the Turkish Machine Theory Association (MakTeD) (2011-2019) and the chair of IFToMM MO Turkey (2011-2020). He has been a member of the IFToMM Technical Committee for Linkages and Mechanical Controls since 2012 and received the IFToMM Dedicated Service Award in 2023. Söyelemez specializes in the kinematic synthesis of mechanisms.
In the last two decades, we have gained more knowledge than in all of human history. Mechanical engineers used to focus on just a few aspects of a machine, but now we must think about its environmental impact, interconnectedness, and intelligence. Our goal has always been to improve the world, but we must also consider the ethical implications of our work. With exponential growth, we need to anticipate and adapt to the ever-changing world, and even IFToMM must face this reality.
This webinar aims to: (1) initiate a reflection and a dialogue on ethics (2) promote methods and practices within the IFToMM community.
Prof. Teun Koetsier (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is a historian and philosopher of mathematics with a specific interest in the history of machines. In 2019, he published ‘The Ascent of GIM, the Global Intelligent Machine, A History of Production and Information Machines’. GIM is the successor of the Internet of things. It is, in fact, a giant robotic machine that covers the globe. It is no science fiction. It exists and grows and gets smarter and smarter.
Check the website for this webinar for more information.
Click here to watch the video.
On June 2023, the University of Craiova awarded an honoris causa doctoral degree to Prof. Giuseppe Carbone, Chair of IFToMM Technical Committee on Robotics and Mechatronics. He received this award for his outstanding scientific contributions in medical and service robotics.
On Monday, January 30, 2023, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN) awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to University Prof. Giuseppe CARBONE from the University of Calabria (Italy). Representatives of the UTCN leadership, along with the UTCN academic body members and guests, attended the awarding ceremony of the prestigious title in recognition of professional excellence and valuable contributions to the field of robotics by Prof. Giuseppe Carbone. Among the participants, there were IFToMM Romania representatives, including Prof. Erwin Lovasz (IFToMM Secretary General), Prof. Ioan Doroftei (IFToMM MO-Romania Chair), Prof. Doina Pisla (Director of CESTER and former Chair of IFToMM TC on Computational Kinematics).
The stringent legislation concerning the emissions of vehicles has become one of the strongest factors affecting engine and powertrain manufacturers during the last decade. Consequently, we witness a massive drift toward electrification of powertrains, especially in the automotive industry – a trend which will hold further and promises to get even stronger in the years and even decades to come. In parallel, research and development on much cleaner internal combustion (IC) engines based not only on improved design and control strategy of the combustion process but also on new and alternative fuels, continues as well. Besides that, various types of hybrid powertrains including both IC engines and electric motors take a considerable share in many powertrains produced worldwide. One should not forget the power turbines, used both in transportation machinery and in power generation.
The aim of this book is to cover a wide range of applied research on engines and powertrains compactly presented in one volume, by showing innovative engineering solutions, which already found their place in the development process of improved engines and powertrains used in modern vehicles and power plants.
The Advances in Engine and Powertrain Research and Technology is the first book of the Springer series Mechanism and Machine Science completely dedicated to engines and powertrains. It is published under the auspices of IFToMM and is the result of the work of the members of the Technical Committee for Engines and Powertrains in cooperation with the Technical Committees for Transportation Machinery and Rotordynamics. For more details follow the link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-91869-9
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