All-Terrain Vehicles, usually called ATVs, are a popular product in the leisure sport market. The steering mechanisms is one of the important components of ATVs to obtain better maneuverability. The purpose of this work is to develop a systematic design procedure for the steering mechanisms of ATVs. First, the particularities and the requirements of ATVs are investigated to induce the basic characteristics. Second, to carry out the creative design of steering mechanisms by using the systematic procedure of creative mechanism design. Third, to deduce the analytic theory of angle displacement, torque and stability for the design of steering mechanisms. Then a computer aided analysis program are written. Finally, to establish the quantitative design specification of the steering mechanisms of ATVs. Then the dimension synthesis and the steering mechanism to integrate with body of ATVs are illustrated with an example.

With the prevalence of leisure sport, riding mountain bikes becomes an enormous vogue today. The mountain bikes undoubtedly have become one of the most popular products in the leisure sport market. Based on its superior standard of operating quality and the demand of comfortableness, the requirement of the outstanding rear suspension mechanism of mountain bikes is one of the crucial components in the design procedure. The purpose of this work is to provide a design procedure of the system of rear suspension mechanisms of mountain bikes by using the concept of engineering design method. First, to investigate the essential requirements of the system of rear suspension mechanisms of mountain bikes is started. Then the design targets of this research are decided further in order to establish the requirement book for the system of rear suspension mechanisms of mountain bikes. Second, the kinematic design of rear suspension mechanisms is proceeding. Computer Aided Tried and Error program is utilized for synthesizing the dimensions of rear suspension mechanisms to meet the requirement of functions. Finally, topology theory is applied to synthesize the frames of mountain bikes. Furthermore, the systematic design procedure is developed to perform the embodiment design of the system of rear suspension mechanisms of mountain bikes.

Rowing exercise machines are the popular fitness goods with training the whole body, warm-up, and stretching. They have the advantages of promoting cardiopulmonary function, training muscles, and burning calories. The purpose of this work is to develop a systematic design procedure for the linkage-type rowing exercise machines. First, to investigate and discuss the rowing exercise machines and the rowing motion to induce the requirements and design tasks of rowing exercise machines. Then the design targets of this research are decided further in order to establish the design specification. Second, to carry out the creative design of rowing exercise machines by using the procedure of creative mechanism design. Third, to complete the kinematic design of rowing exercise machines. Computer software is utilized for the work of dimensional synthesis and kinematic analysis. Finally, to perform the embodiment design and to establish 3-D model drawing of the design solutions.

The ability to design is the distinguishing characteristic of an engineer. Recent research has increased our understanding of both the engineering design process and effective means for teaching that process to neophyte design engineers. In that spirit, a design methodology was developed at the Institute for Innovation and Design in Engineering (IIDE), Texas A&M University. At the core of this approach is a design philosophy based on the cognitive skills of Abstraction, Critical Parameter Identification, and Questioning. This philosophy along with the design process is taught in the senior undergraduate design and graduate design courses. The goal of the methodology is not only to teach the design process to novice designers but also to instill in them the design philosophy that would enable them to perform design effectively and innovatively in any area of specialty. In this dissertation the design philosophy along with its role in the design methodology is explained. The Need Analysis and the Conceptual Design stages of the IIDE methodology are elaborated. The weaknesses in these stages are identified and addressed, by developing and incorporating design methods and techniques that fit the spirit and framework of the IIDE design methodology. The Object Function Method was developed to address certain aspects at the Need Analysis stage. There was need for an effective concept searching method within the Concept Design stage of the IIDE design methodology. This is addressed by the development of new search techniques and methods for effective concept discovery during concept searching. The usage and application of these methods and techniques is explained in detail along with examples. Additionally, this dissertation contains the results of a study conducted with two groups of senior design students, those who have been through the process and those who have not, to evaluate the effectiveness of applying the IIDE design philosophy and performing the Need Analysis and Conceptual Design stages for the given design challenge. The goal of the study was to investigate the relationship, if any, between the degree to which these aspects of the design methodology were followed and the quality of the resulting design solutions produced.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DXN028515.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2010. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99).

Thesis (M.S. in M.E.)--School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by Farrokh Mistree. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 396-399).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-180).

The purpose of this study was to observe the differences in high school PreAP Geometry students in regards to spatial ability. The hypothesis states that students who are enrolled in both high school PreAP Geometry and Introduction to Engineering Design have better spatial ability skills than those students who are solely enrolled in PreAP Geometry. Of the 207 students enrolled in geometry at the test school, there was a smaller population (n = 57) simultaneously enrolled in an engineering graphics course at the high school. No direct or special intervention was given to either group of students. Near the end of the academic year, all students were administered the Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test (ROT). Results showed that students enrolled in the engineering design class performed better than those students not enrolled in the course. Furthermore, the males outperformed the females when all students were considered. However, there was not a significant difference among the males, nor was there a difference between males and females enrolled in engineering. Further research is needed to understand these differences and how geometry education plays a role in the development of spatial ability skills. / text

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