Agustin de Betancourt’sWind Machine for Draining Marshy Ground: Approach to Its Geometric Modeling with Autodesk Inventor Professional

摘要

The present study shows the process followed in making the three-dimensional model andgeometric documentation of a historical invention of the renowned Spanish engineer Agustin deBetancourt y Molina, which forms part of his rich legacy. Specifically, this was a wind machine fordraining marshy ground, designed in 1789. The present research relies on the computer-aideddesign (CAD) techniques using Autodesk Inventor Professional software, based on the scantinformation provided by the only two drawings of the machine, making it necessary to proposea number of dimensional and geometric hypotheses as well as a series of movement restrictions(degrees of freedom), to arrive at a consistent design. The results offer a functional design for thishistoric invention.