An online course taught through the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, Engineering for Professionals.
Program: Mechanical Engineering
Years Taught: 14+ Years, 2011 ‐ Present
Students Taught: 415+ Graduate Students
Course Description
This course provides the student with a fundamental understanding of the principles and techniques used to design precision machines, instruments, and mechanisms. Lectures include discussions on the implementation and design of mechanisms, bearings, actuators, sensors, structures, and precision mounts used in precision applications. Upon completion of this course, students have a clear understanding of positional repeatability and accuracy, deterministic design, exact constraint design, error modeling, and sources of machine and instrumentation errors.
Course Goal
To develop a fundamental understanding of the principles and practices used to successfully design precision mechanisms, machines, and instruments.
Course Objectives
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the concepts of repeatability, accuracy, uncertainty, deterministic design, and exact constraint design.
- Demonstrate the ability to identify and estimate individual error sources and systematically formulate the system error model.
- Demonstrate the ability to select and design the various precision mechanisms and compoinents used in the design of machines and instruments, including but not limited to, kinematic couplings, bearings, actuators, sensors, vibration isolators, and structures.
- Develop a collection of calculators used to assist in the design of components and mechanisms of precision machines and instruments.
Outline
- Introduction to Precision Engineering and Precision Machine and Instrumentation Design
- Introduction to Precision Engineering
- Introduction to Precision Manufacturing
- Introduction to Precision Metrology
- Introduction to Precision Design
- Introduction to Case Studies in Precision Machine and Instrumentation design
- Engineering Design and Determinism
- Engineering Design
- Deterministic Design
- Introduction to the Class Project - Positioning System Design
- Bearings
- An Introduction to Bearings used in Precision Mechanical Design
- Externally Pressurized Fluid Film Bearings
- Flexures
- Sliding Contact Polymeric Bearings
- Linear Rolling Contact Bearings
- Positioning Axis Errors
- Linear Axis Errors
- Rotary Axis Errors
- Multi-Axis Errors
- Error Sources
- Error Budgets
- An Introduction to Error Budgets, Error Modeling, and Error Simulation
- Error Budgets
- Homogeneous Transformation Matrices
- Modeling Linear Axis Error Motions
- Modeling Rotary Axis Error Motions
- Multi-Axis Error Modeling
- Exact Constraint Design
- Exact Constrain Design
- Kinematic Design and Couplings
- Hertzian Contact Stress
- Structural Design, Loops, and Material Selection
- Machine Structures
- Force Loops, Metrology Loops, and the Metrology Frame
- Material Selection
- Actuators
- An Introduction to Actuators and Transmissions used in the Design of Precision Machines and Instruments
- Lead Screws and Ball Screws
- Friction Drives
- Linear Electric Motors
- Voice Coil Actuators
- Planar Motors
- Piezoelectric Actuators
- Adjustment Screws and Wedges
- Feedback Devices
- Sensors and Transducers
- Displacement Measuring Interferometers
- Manufacturing for Precision
- Manufacturing for Precision
- Replication
- Single Point Diamond Turning
- Environmental Control
- Temperature Effects
- Temperature Control
- Vibration Isolation and Control
- Machine Tool Metrology
- Machine Tool Metrology and Linear Positioning Error Measurements
- Axis of Rotation Error Measurements
- Axis Alignment Error Measurements
- Multi-Axis Error Measurements
- Reversal Techniques
- Project Presentations
- Final Exam & Design
Student Feedback
Great instructor
Interesting course material
Industrial knowledge was applied to the course
I enjoyed the excellent lectures. Very good graphics and videos that demonstrated the concepts. Office hours recordings were also great.
One of the best courses I have taken here. Just incredible content and instruction.
This has been one of my favorite courses. Ronnie is awesome! I love his passion and felt inspired to dive deep into the concepts and work hard on my design project.
Office hours were very interesting and Dr. Fesperman is a very good teacher, and obviously very knowledgeable/experienced in precision engineering with a love for the field. The assignments project and test were more challenging than I had come to expect from other courses, but not unreasonably so, so I would also consider that a positive.
This course was great! Very interesting topics, and Professor Fesperman did a great job touching on a lot of different topics and going into as much detail as possible with the time allotted. Also, the structure of the project where there are milestones every week or so is great. It really allowed you to engage with the course content, and produce an overall better project than one where it is all due at the end. Great course!
Online lectures provided solid foundation for applicable knowledge required in the course
It was directly relatable to my field of work and helped me have a better understanding of precision metrology. It was a good course with a very knowledgeable instructor.
The video lectures were top notch, clear and to the point. I thought that the assigned reading materials complemented each other.
This couse is very well structured and it help me push myself and search for knowledge.
The best part of this course was the course project. It was really helpful to try and implement the things we were learning each week in the design of a linear positioning system.
The instructor is excellent! and the material completely relevant. I have been in the industry as an engineer for 45 years and he was dead on... I worked at LLNL and with a gentleman whose thesis we used as reference in the class. Great class. Can take the knowledge directly into industry today!
Lots of practical and relevant information! This course has already helped me at work! Professor was great, I would happily take another course from him!
I liked that the course project was incorporated as assignments throughout the course. This made the project much more manageable in the end in putting everything all together.
I liked all of the real world applications presented in the lectures about how the topics are implemented in research and commercial systems.
The depth of Dr. Fesperman's industry knowledge and experience shows through very strongly in this course. It's nice to have firsthand perspectives of the applications of course content.
The professor absolutely loves this field and it shows! He eats, breaths and lives precision engineering which made the class more enjoyable!
One of the best courses I've taken.
The course project. While it did require a lot of effort, it was a great way to truly understand the concepts taught in the course.
Dr. Fesperman was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about precision mechanical design. It seems like he put a lot of thought and consideration to the course structure and content. I thought it was one of the better set up online courses as I felt like I learned the material well. I also liked how he linked relevant journal articles for supplemental reading if you were interested in a a topic. I really enjoyed this class.
The instructor was sincerely interested in getting to learn about the students and connect with them on a professional level. He was awesome.
The course content was really interesting and well organized. The professor was really helpful and available multiple times a week for calls if you were unable to attend office hours. I also had my most difficult semester ever due to my work schedule and some health issues in my family and Professor Fesperman was very kind and helpful in helping me coordinate my schedue.
The experience Prof. Fesperman brought to the class was very helpful. The ability to see real life examples and projects that he's developed and been a part of helped illustrate the effectiveness of the skills taught in the course.
I liked how the professor tied precision engineering principles and tied them to the real world. It is important to see how precision engineering plays a role in our everyday life. What I appreciate the most is how the professor understands that everyone has different levels of experience with precision engineering so he graded us fairly. In fact, he cares more about us working on the project as a way to design on our own single-axis positioning system as opposed to give us multiple exams.
Course Offerings
Location: online
Semesters: Spring & Fall
