Michael Kontopoulos

Machines and Mechanisms for Art and D.I.Y.

Machine Project,2010

WHAT WE’LL COVER:

-Simple Machines-Machine Elements (Gears, etc.)-Compound Machines-Linkages-Automata-Artists who make machines

What’s with the keynote?

I thought we were gonna do stuff...

So...Who are you people?

CONCEPTIONS OF MACHINES

Industrial, Functional“Mechanically extended man”

VS.

Creative, Critical

Input

Output

TRANSFORMATIONOFFORCE / ENERGY

-Internal Combustion-Steam Engine-Stirling Engine

Is a computer a machine ?It has no moving parts...It does no work (physics)

YESYESYES

YESYESYES

-> ->

Evolution of Transistors

Vannevar BushTHE MEMEX

A mechanical approach to computing and data.

The domesticationof machines linked

to an image ofprosperity and

perceived happiness

“Machines” in the abstract.

NON-TRADITIONAL MATERIALSBernie Lubell (Interactive Wooden Machines)

NON-TRADITIONAL MATERIALSTheo Jansen (Organic Motion, Creatures) CLIP

AUTO-DESTRUCTIVE MACHINESJean Tinguely (Abstraction in Machine Thinking)

CLIP

AUTO-DESTRUCTIVE MACHINESM. Kontopoulos “Machines that Almost Fall Over”

CLIP

GADGETS / MUSICAL / WEARABLESMaywa Denki (“The Nonsense Machines”)

CHALLENGING “USEFULNESS”Rube Goldberg (Absurdist Mechanisms)

Ok... Now some serious stuff.

MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE

The factor by which a mechanism multiplies FORCE or TORQUE applied to it.

TORQUE

The tendency of a force to turn an object about an axis.

And, a terrible movie >

Torque depends on 3 factors:1. Length of the lever arm2. Force applied3. Angle between lever and axis.

SIMPLE MACHINES.

Back to High School!Except it won’t suck this time...And less math...

LEVERS

F1 x D1 = F2 x D2

F1 = 100kgD1 = 1ft

F2 = 5kgD2 = 20ft

100 x 1 = 5 x 20They balance!

First Class Lever

Second Class Lever

Third Class Lever

WHEEL AND AXLE

Ubiquitous Water-Bucket Example

(T)MA = ROUTER / RINNER

OR = 2ftIR = 6 inches

TMA = 24in / 6in = 4

YOU AREAMACHINE

La Mettrie“L’Homme Machine”

One of the earliest to proposethe metaphor of man as machine.

French Physician and Philosopher

Cartesian Dualism, The Enlightenment, Materialism

Arms, Legs, Fingers and Toesare all types of Levers.LINK

BLOCK AND TACKLE

Anatomy of a Block

(T)MA = # of Segments from Moving Block

TMA = 4

TMA = 1 TMA = 2

Block and Tackle Configurations

TMA = 2 3 4 5 6

*

GEARS

Some Gear Terminology

A “GEAR TRAIN” Follower

“Idler” Gears

Driver

Some Gear Terminology (cont)

COMPOUND Gear Train

Follower

Driver

“GEARED UP”Larger driver and smaller follower.Increase in speed, but not torque.

“GEARED DOWN”Smaller driver and larger follower.Decrease in speed, but increased torque.

DRIVERFOLLOWER

DRIVER

FOLLOWER

Backlash:A certain amount of play built in.So things move smoothly.

Slop:Too much backlash.

Friction:Insufficient backlash.

Pitch Diameter

(T)MA = # Teeth in Follower / # Teeth in Driver or Follower : Driver

Driver = 8

Follower = 24

TMA = 3/1 = 3

One turn of the DRIVER moves the FOLLOWER 1/3 of the way around (or 120˚)

One turn of the DRIVER moves the FOLLOWER around 3 times.

Reverse Them:

Gear Ratio: Single Gear Train

40

24

Ratio = 24/40 = 3/5

or 3:5

Gear Ratio: Compound Gear Train

D1

TMA = F1/D1 x F2/D2

D2

F1

F2

Ratio = 24/40 x 24/40 = 3/5 x 3/5 = 9/25

Multiply the gear ratios.

GEAR LAB.

CHARLIE CHAPLAN“MODERN TIMES”

GREGORY WITT“MICROSCOPE”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvNQiF89Pek&feature=related

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/gwitt/microscope/microscope.html

Antikythera Mechanism

Orrery

AstronomicalClocks

Prague

Buying Gears Online: What to look forPressure Angle: The angle at which pressure is handed off to the

next gear in the train. 14.5˚ or 20˚ (usually 20)

Pitch Diameter: The imaginary circle where two gears mesh.

Number of Teeth in the gear.

Pitch: The # of Teeth divided by the Pitch Diameter.

IN ORDER FOR GEARS TO MESH PROPERLY, THEY MUST HAVE THE SAME PRESSURE ANGLE AND PITCH.

These gears will fit together, b/c they have the same pitch (16) anda Pressure Angle of 20.

From the McMaster Carr catalog:

Calculating “Pitch”

Online Gear Template