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33rd Annual Meeting

 

Sunday – Friday, November 4 – November 9, 2018
Red Rock Casino • Resort • Spa
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Conference Chair:
Kate M. Medicus, Ruda Cardinal, Inc.


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Jonathan B. Hopkins (University of California – Los Angeles)
Date and Time: TBA

Synopsis:
Advanced flexure synthesis principles, modeling approaches, engineering tools, and best practices. Applications: precision motion stages, general purpose flexure bearings, and MEMs/Nano-scale positioning systems. Emphasis on kinematic flexure synthesis using principles of constraint-based design, screw theory, and projective geometry. Lectures, examples, and hands-on exercises involving “build-your-own” flexure kits. Students encouraged to bring flexure examples for analysis and discussion.

Part 1 Overview: (4hrs)

  • Flexible Constraint Theory: Constraint and DOF relationship; exact, over, and underconstraint; modeling flexures using constraint lines; kinematic equivalence
  • Constraints and the Motions they Permit: Modeling translations as rotations; principles of projective geometry in flexure synthesis; rule of complementary patterns; introduction to freedom and constraint spaces as deterministic synthesis tools
  • Freedom and Constraint Topologies (FACT): Designing parallel flexure systems using freedom and constraint spaces.

Part 2 Overview: (4hrs)

  • Synthesizing Serial Flexure Systems using FACT: Intermediate freedom spaces; stacking parallel modules; synthesizing parallel and serial elements.
  • Actuating Flexure Systems: Calculating static and dynamic actuation spaces as a way to select the optimal kind, number, location, and orientation of actuators for actuating systems with minimal parasitic error.
  • Case Study Analysis and Discussion: Practice applying FACT to the design of precision flexure systems. Analyze and discuss flexures brought to the course.

No previous experience is required for either part but Part 1 should be taken as a prerequisite to Part 2.