PHOTO PROVIDED
Penn State mechanical engineering students recently completed the design, construction and testing of 21st century technology that will be used to understand the manufacturing principals of the distant past. The Radial Measuring Device (RMD) is designed to image the inside surface of artillery tubes providing researchers with data on the construction of those Renaissance weapons of war. The RMD successfully scanned a naval artillery tube on its inaugural test run with a real artifact at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. Under a summer 2011 grant from the British Academy, part of the PSU team will travel to museums in Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin in an attempt to unlock the secrets of design from the 15th century, when artillery was just becoming a potent force on the battlefield.
Penn State mechanical engineering students recently completed the design, construction and testing of 21st century technology that will be used to understand the manufacturing principals of the distant past. The Radial Measuring Device (RMD) is designed to image the inside surface of artillery tubes providing researchers with data on the construction of those Renaissance weapons of war. The RMD successfully scanned a naval artillery tube on its inaugural test run with a real artifact at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. Under a summer 2011 grant from the British Academy, part of the PSU team will travel to museums in Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin in an attempt to unlock the secrets of design from the 15th century, when artillery was just becoming a potent force on the battlefield.
