Using a rapid prototyping machine in the integrated kinematics, dynamics, and machine design lab

According to the latest trend, two different labs, the Machine Design lab, and Kinematics, and Dynamics lab, were combined into one integrated lab. The time students spend on their projects is halved. To save the quality of undergraduate education, a new methodology has to be developed. The paper explains the methodology developed by the author while teaching the integrated Kinematics, Dynamics, and Machine Design Lab (MECH 488) at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The objective of the aforementioned lab is to teach the students, who have no design experience, how to select proper tools (from kinematics, dynamics, and machine design), and how to apply these tools in designing reliable and machinable parts. In this lab, the students actually make the parts using a rapid prototyping machine.