Lecture

Applied Mechanical Design: Introduction

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In course

ME-403: Applied mechanical design

Students will be exposed to hands-on design problems throughout the term. They will acquire methodologies to (1) address open ended engineering problems, (2) cultivate creativity, (3) support decision making and (4) develop problem solving abilities. ...

Description

This lecture introduces the complexities of design, emphasizing the ill-posed nature of problems and the existence of multiple solutions. It delves into the challenges of design theory, the competences required, and the pedagogical objectives. The lecture covers the iterative design process, the importance of establishing detailed specifications, and the methodology to approach open solution problems. It also explores the process of problem definition, the types of design, and the phases of the design process. The lecture concludes with a focus on the power of functions, common pitfalls in defining functions, and the deliverables and grading criteria for the course.

Instructor

Jürg Alexander Schiffmann

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Hendrik Dietmar Schillinger, Gabriele Iovanna, Husam Jubran, Selahittin Atilay Zervent, Harshita Ravindra Agarwal, Anupam Jena, Issam Soukhmane, Tristan Wolff Schwab, Aman Jain, Masato Omotsubo, Konstantin Andreas Jacoby, Andrii Artomov, Arnau Catala I Rams, Elize Alwash, Emanuele Pallaoro, Anna Abramishvili Past EPFL PhD Students Violette Mounier, Karim Magdi Zakaria Abdelrahman Shalash, Patrick Hubert Wagner, Markus Diehl, Philipp Kaspar Bättig, Kévin Rosset, Eliott Philippe

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Continuous function

In mathematics, a continuous function is a function such that a continuous variation (that is a change without jump) of the argument induces a continuous variation of the value of the function. This means that there are no abrupt changes in value, known as discontinuities. More precisely, a function is continuous if arbitrarily small changes in its value can be assured by restricting to sufficiently small changes of its argument. A discontinuous function is a function that is .

Function (mathematics)

In mathematics, a function from a set X to a set Y assigns to each element of X exactly one element of Y. The set X is called the domain of the function and the set Y is called the codomain of the function. Functions were originally the idealization of how a varying quantity depends on another quantity. For example, the position of a planet is a function of time. Historically, the concept was elaborated with the infinitesimal calculus at the end of the 17th century, and, until the 19th century, the functions that were considered were differentiable (that is, they had a high degree of regularity).

Limit of a function

Although the function \tfrac{\sin x}{x} is not defined at zero, as x becomes closer and closer to zero, \tfrac{\sin x}{x} becomes arbitrarily close to 1. In other words, the limit of \tfrac{\sin x}{x}, as x approaches zero, equals 1. In mathematics, the limit of a function is a fundamental concept in calculus and analysis concerning the behavior of that function near a particular input. Formal definitions, first devised in the early 19th century, are given below. Informally, a function f assigns an output f(x) to every input x.

Domain of a function

In mathematics, the domain of a function is the set of inputs accepted by the function. It is sometimes denoted by or , where f is the function. In layman's terms, the domain of a function can generally be thought of as "what x can be". More precisely, given a function , the domain of f is X. In modern mathematical language, the domain is part of the definition of a function rather than a property of it. In the special case that X and Y are both subsets of , the function f can be graphed in the Cartesian coordinate system.

Design

A design is a concept of either an object, a process, or a system that is specific and, in most cases, detailed. Design refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, though it is sometimes used to refer to the nature of something. The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design. In some cases, the direct construction of an object without an explicit prior plan may also be considered to be a design (such as in some artwork and craftwork).

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