Trends in the drawing of mechanisms since the early Middle Ages

Abstract

Drawing of mechanisms is a fundamental tool for mechanical design and representation. In this paper a historical study on the evolution of representation of mechanisms has been carried out in order to establish the historic background and identify the progress over time. Investigating several authors has identified basic changes in the evolution of mechanism drawing, and a few examples are reported in this paper to stress the main concepts. The drawing of mechanisms has evolved from an intentionally incomplete representation to a naturalistic and pictorial view, then from concise sketches and kinematic diagrams to modern abstract graphic pictures. The development of mechanism drawing has been strongly linked with and affected by the evolution of knowledge in mechanical sciences and particularly mechanism design.