305-577A Optimum Design

Course Announcement

The design process is, by its nature, open-ended, and hence, the decision-making process in a design task becomes of the utmost importance. To help the engineer make the right decisions, optimization methods have been devised. This course aims at developing skills in formulating a design task as an optimization problem, mastering the methods of solution, and interpreting the solutions in a design context. Issues such as cost, space availability, and functionality will be studied. The course is project-based, the final mark being thus computed in terms of the marks obtained in the project reports. A typical project would consist, for example, in optimizing the mechanical system of the novel SCARA manipulator shown in the figure, which is driven by four motors, one for each of the four independent motions, three translations and one rotation about a vertical axis. The whole machine must respect constraints on stiffness and weight, since it is to carry moderately heavy loads.

For further information, please consult the Course Outline, or direct your queries to Prof. J. Angeles, Rm. 452 MD, angeles@cim.mcgill.ca

Also look at

www.cim.mcgill.ca/~rmsl

and look for ``Courses.''