MAMBO & The MAMBO Toolbox


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Welcome to the world of MAMBO, a software package for the modeling and analysis of multibody mechanisms.

The computer-graphics application MAMBO has been developed with the purpose of allowing students to visualize the results of their efforts while retaining the need for careful mathematical analysis. In contrast with existing commercially available educational software tools, MAMBO requires detailed input from the user both in order to define the specific geometry of the mechanism as well as the differential equations governing its behavior. With this tool, the student is able to see the implications of decisions made throughout the modeling stage and to check the mathematical analysis.

The computer-algebra package the MAMBO toolbox has been developed to reduce the amount of rote algebraic manipulation required by the student in developing a mathematical model for a multibody mechanism.

MAMBO and its companion software the MAMBO toolbox are the result of a collaborative effort over the course of more than 10 years. The following individuals have been involved with the development and coding of MAMBO: Jesper Adolfsson, Kalle Andersson, Arne Nordmark, Gabriel Ortiz, Anders Lennartsson, Petri Piiroinen, Justin Hutchison, and Harry Dankowicz. The MAMBO toolbox written by Harry Dankowicz bears a general resemblance to a collection of procedures developed by Prof. Martin Lesser and Dr. Anders Lennartsson at the Department of Mechanics, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, between 1991 and 1999, and named Sophia after the Polish-Swedish mathematician, Sofja Kowalewskaja (1850-1891). The intellectual heritage from Sophia and the efforts of its originators is gratefully acknowledged.

The development of MAMBO and its companion software the MAMBO toolbox has been supported by generous grants from the Faculty of Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and by the Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at Virginia Tech.

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NEWS

April, 2012:
College of Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign awards the Collins Award for Innovative Teaching for innovative use of technology in classes on Multibody Mechanics and Dynamics.

November, 2010:
A softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition of the textbook Multibody Mechanics and Visualization is published by Springer and available here.

January, 2006:
The paper Teaching Advanced Modeling of Multibody Mechanisms to Non-traditional Engineering Students by Harry Dankowicz will be presented at the 2006 American Society of Engineering Education Illinois-Indiana and North Central Joint Section Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana on March 31-April 1. A copy of the paper may downloaded from here.

December, 2005:
A version of the MAMBO toolbox 2.0 that is compatible with Mathematica 5.2 has been created and may be downloaded from this site. Source files for the sample MAMBO projects in the form of Mathematica notebooks have also been included in the downloadable collection of sample projects.

September, 2004:
MAMBO and the MAMBO toolbox are used as instructional tools in a class on Multibody Mechanics and Visualization taught to Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduates at Virginia Tech. For sample projects created by these students, please follow this link.

July, 2004:
MAMBO and the MAMBO toolbox are featured in the textbook Multibody Mechanics and Visualization, by Harry Dankowicz, published by Springer Verlag UK in 2004.

To buy this textbook, please see the publisher's online catalogue or the catalogue of other online book sellers.

July, 2004:
Have MAMBO and the MAMBO toolbox demonstrated to you and your colleagues! If you are interested in an opportunity to learn more about these educational tools and their use in undergraduate and graduate courses, please contact Harry Dankowicz at danko@illinois.edu.

April, 2004:
College of Engineering at Virginia Tech awards the W.S. 'Pete' White Innovation in Engineering Education Award for efforts associated with the development of MAMBO and the MAMBO toolbox and the associated course material.

April, 2004:
The Spring 2004 issue of the Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (CEUT) at Virginia Tech newsletter features an article on MAMBO and the MAMBO toolbox and associated course development.