Development of simulation software for a planar mechanisms laboratory equipment

This work addresses the development of a simulation software for the analysis of four-bar planar mechanisms, ADM4BSoftware V1.0, used for teaching in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. The software is developed in order to optimize the students' analysis tasks in the mechanisms' Lab. The software solves the set of equations that represents the direct kinematics, and the direct dynamics. The software is an interactive application performed in Matlab™. The simulation environment allows the students to change the analysis option, the visualization mode, animate the mechanism, show different graphics and export theoretical data as a plain text file (.prn) or as a Excel™ spreadsheet (.xls). Therefore, students can compare and contrast experimental and theoretical data faster. Consequently, they can dedicate their time to analyze physical phenomena present in mechanisms. The ADM4BSoftware V1.0 has become a useful tool for instructors in teaching subjects related to the mechanics of machines.