MAE 4730/5730, Fall 2013
Intermediate Dynamics and Vibrations
Instructor:  Andy Ruina,    <ruina@cornell.edu>         
TA/grader: Adam Trofa     <amt225@cornell.edu>
(In Fall 2012, ME 4730/5730 was called ME 4735/5735)
ABET Syllabet

This is the first in a two-course sequence. The second is Advanced Dynamics, MAE 6700.
More information.

End-of-semester evaluation: Anonymous student evaluations of the course, numerical and comments:   4730,   5730

Course communications through Piazza: Please register, check for course news, and use Piazza to ask questions and make comments. If you are not in the class and want to look at the Piazza aspect, you can. Here.

News: Done through Piazza.

Course information

Lectures: MWF 10:10 -11. Hollister 110 (NOT Philips 403).
                 Please sit in front, densely packed (no empty seats in first several rows, all empty seats in the back 1/3).
Office hours: Andy:   Mon 12:15-2:15,       Thurston 102 (The Conway Room)
                       Adam:  Tues   2:50-3:50,       Thurston 102
Syllabus and Homeworks. (See also ABET Syllabet and Coverage)          
Homework policy
Exams and grading
: Grade determined by homeworks, project, prelims and final exam by means that will be determined at the end of the semester. All other things being exactly equal, 4730 students will tend to have higher grades.
                                  Prelims: 1) 10/22 2) 11/19. Both 7:30 - 10:30, Olin Hall 245 (See HW page for solutions)
                                  Final:     Dec 19, 7-10 PM, Room TBD (*NOTE THE LATE DATE*) (See HW page for exam and solutions).

Main Resources

1. Background mechanics for this class: Ruina & Pratap. (Hard copy available at Kraftees on Dryden Ave ~$60).
2. Textbooks: Taylor, Classical Mechanics, Tongue, Vibrations
3. You need Matlab ($) or Octave (free) running on your computer (comparison between the two).
4. Some MATLAB examples.
5. Any Matlab Primer, say Pratap.
6. Some ME and TAM Dynamics Qualifying Exam questions: doc 1, doc 2, doc 3, doc 4

MoreVibrations material 

9. J.P. Den Hartog, Mechanical Vibrations, Dover reprint. (Universally praised by the pros)
10. Matlab Engineering Vibrations Toolbox (free).
11. ME 4770/5770 Engineering Vibrations, Rand notes etc Spring 2012 (ME 4770 is no longer offered.)

More Mechanics material 

11. Any book on Dynamics at a higher level than Ruina and Pratap, e.g. Greenwood.
12. Murray, Li and Sastry, A Matematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation, 1994. Another rather formal approach.
13. Dave Baraff's Physically based modeling notes.

What was the course like in fall 2012?

Fall 2012 4735/5735 site
Class notes (5 MB), taken by a student in fall 2012


email to Andy Ruina <ruina@cornell.edu>
Updated on Nov 19, 2013)