While other engineering software can create numerical models given a mechanical system, Saltire claims that Mechanical Expressions is the first to do so using symbolic mathematical models.
As seen in the image here of a piston-crank system, Mechanical Expressions lets engineers create a skeletal diagram and assign variables such as crank radius, rod length, and crank angle. The program can then output the equation of the torque as a function of the specified variables; describing both the values of a single crank and the values of all possible cranks in a given setup.
In terms of optimization capabilities, Mechanical Expressions also has the ability to output the expressions into various CAS systems (such as Tex or MathML). It can also output the expressions in the source code of one of 9 different computer languages, which is great if you want to save that information for later analysis.
Philip Todd, President of Saltire Software, states that “Instead of using the black box approach, which only gives you the numeric response for specific input values, Mechanical Expressions gives you the mathematics of the whole design… It is the ability to capture the essence, not just of a single instance of a design but an entire design space, that makes Mechanical Expressions such a powerful and exciting tool.”
Saltire hopes that as STEM classrooms include more modeling and as curriculums continue to adapt around the latest technologies, Mechanical Expressions will become the program of choice.
Mechanical Expressions is currently in the beta testing phase of development and is slated for release in early 2014. Though if the toolkit manages to be as exciting as it sounds, I suspect we’ll be hearing plenty more about Saltire soon enough.
Image and Story Courtesy of Saltire