Homepage
 

The file Animation.html is the Homepage for the Mechanism Simulation in a Multimedia Environment package by Shih-Liang (Sid) Wang, created for Robert L. Norton’s Design of Machinery, 3rd ed. Each chapter and each mechanism has its own Homepage that contains some combination of picture, video, Working Model 2D, MSC.visualNastran 4D, MATLAB, and PDF files relating to that mechanism.

Video files
 

To view a video file of a mechanism, just click on its picture. This will launch Windows Media Player and animate the video. To view the animation again, use the video scroll bar within Windows Media Player.

Working Model 2D files
 

Working Model 2D files can be accessed by clicking on the link so labeled under each picture’s caption on the Homepage for the mechanism. The Working Model files also will be found in the Working Model Files folder and can be opened directly from within the Working Model 2D program, which is included on this CD.

Note: When you click on a link in the Animations.html file to launch a Working Model file, it may launch a "Download dialog box" (in Internet Explorer) or a "Warning dialog box" (in Netscape). This dialog box will ask you to choose from the following selections:

Open the file, Save the file, or Cancel.

To run Working Model and see the file, select Open and click OK; it will then launch the Working Model program and run the model. Do not ask it to Save the file because it is already saved on the CD-ROM. If you do this, you will end up with a duplicate copy of the file on your hard drive.

MSC.visualNastran 4D files
 

Running the MSC.visualNastran 4D files included on this CD requires the program MSC.visualNastran 4D. This program is not included with the CD. However, if your school computers have license of this program, you can run these files on the school computers. If not, there are corresponding video files on the CD for each MSC.visualNastran 4D simulation file. You can view these video files with Windows Media Player.

MATLAB files
 

All the MATLAB files are linked to the file (Table_of_Contents_export.m) in the Matlab folder within the Animations folder. The best way to access the MATLAB files is to run this file from within MATLAB. All MATLAB files are also linked to the Homepages of their respective mechanisms. They can be opened for viewing, but they cannot be run from either of these locations. You can ONLY run these files from within the MATLAB program, which is not included on this CD.

Note also that MATLAB version R12.1 will run all the files except cam.m. MATLAB R13 is needed to run the file cam.m and will also run all the others.