A PERSPECTIVE OF MECHANISM AND MACHINE SCIENCE: FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE

摘要

Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS) has been the core of mechanical engineering and indeed of industrial engineering since the beginning of engineering practice and particularly in modern times. A historical short survey is presented to outline the main characteristics of mechanisms and their evolution also with the aim to identify challenges and role of MMS in future developments of Technology for the benefit of the Society. The significance of IFToMM, the International Federation for the Promotion of MMS is also stressed as the worldwide community that in the last forty years has contributed to aggregate common views and developments and can have a important role for future improvements yet. Modern systems specifically with Mechatronic design and operation still need a careful attention from mechanism design viewpoints to properly achieve the goals of helping or substituting human operators in their activity.