This remarkable Web site contains descriptions and animations of nineteen different kinds of engines. Engine types include internal combustion, steam, and sterling engines, and each page shows how the piston, crankshaft, and other components move together to generate power. The animations demonstrate the processes of intake, compression, and exhaust. Some of the featured engines have more detailed...

Mechatronics is a multi-disciplinary field that has evolved considerably in the past few years, especially with recent advances in nanotechnology and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). To make the Mechatronics Handbook reflect this fact, almost 90 people from industry and academia contributed to its creation. Published in 2002, the book "provides a unique, detailed overview of this vibrant,...

The first Web site related to lubrication is presented by SynLube.com and its relevant page is entitled Basics: What You Need to Know About Lubrication (1). Visitors can learn why lubrication is so important to mechanical devices, why oil needs to be changed in your car, what synthetic oils can do, and more. Although the site is for a manufacturer of synthetic oil, there is a good amount of...

The Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory is a project within the Design Division of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. The website describes some of the lab's past and current projects on robotic hands and tactile sensors, as well as teleoperated hands using haptic information. The two current projects highlighted include work on "a new class of biologically inspired...