The invention of the wheel is widely credited as a pivotal moment in human history, yet the details surrounding its discovery are shrouded in mystery. There remains no scholarly consensus on key questions such as where, how and by whom this technology was originally invented. In this study, we employ state-of-the-art techniques from computational structural mechanics to shed light on this long-standing puzzle. Based on this analysis, we propose a probable path along which the wheel evolved via a sequence of three …

ABSTRACT In topology optimization of compliant mechanisms, the specific placement of boundary conditions strongly affects the resulting material distribution and performance of the design. At the same time, the most effective locations of the loads and supports are often difficult to find manually. This substantially limits topology optimization's effectiveness for many mechanism design problems. We remove this limitation by developing a method which automatically determines optimal positioning of a prescribed inp…

In current engineering practice, computer-aided design (CAD) tools play a key role in the design and fabrication of most mechanical systems, including the design of most vehicles. This software tends to rely heavily on human designers to provide the basic design concept, with the software being used to computationally render an existing design, or to perform modifications to a design to achieve incremental improvements in performance. However, an emerging class of computational methods, known as topology optimizat…

Traditional robotic mechanisms contain a series of rigid links connected by rotational joints that provide powered motion, all of which is controlled by a central processor. By contrast, analogous mechanisms found in nature, such as octopus tentacles, contain sensors, actuators, and even neurons distributed throughout the appendage, thereby allowing for motion with superior complexity, fluidity, and reaction time. Smart materials provide a means with which we can mimic these features artificially. These specialize…

In topology optimization of compliant mechanisms, the specific placement of boundary conditions strongly affects the resulting material distribution and performance of the design. At the same time, the most effective locations of the loads and supports are often difficult to find manually. This substantially limits topology optimization's effectiveness for many mechanism design problems. We remove this limitation by developing a method which automatically determines optimal positioning of a prescribed input displa…