Students learning to design and analyze planar mechanisms often have the additional struggle of needing to learn sophisticated professional software such as SolidWorks. PMKS+ is a web application that aims to reduce this struggle by including only the functionality needed for novice students. PMKS+ has existed for years but the complexity of its implementation complicated further development. This project aimed to complete a refactor of PMKS+ focused on adhering to software design principles. We selected a new architecture for the program, allowing us to re-implement a majority of the existing features while adding support for multiple mechanisms, along with new mechanism manipulation functionality. Additionally, we analyzed the existing interface to improve system usability in the new implementation while adhering to standard HCI principles. Our comparative evaluation showed an improvement in user experience as well as a drastic improvement in code structure and documentation.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Evans, Tyler
• Eskridge, Robert
• Burgess, Nicole

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 121977
• E-project-042924-091238

Advisor

• Radhakrishnan, Pradeep
• Brown, David C.

Year

• 2024

Date created

• 2024-04-29

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Computer Science

Source

• E-project-042924-091238

Rights statement

• In Copyright