FAB-150, Portland State Univ (SW 4th Ave & College St.)

Brett Lee, a mechanical engineer with experience in the automotive industry, will be taking us through the basics of linkage and actuator design. He will be focusing on practical things like pros/cons of rotary vs linear actuators, good pivot design, and some basic kinematics with an emphasis on fabrication tools available to robotics hobbyists (3D printer, laser cutter, router). He'll also talk about talk about specc'ing and obtaining mechanical parts (servos, gears, bearings, etc).