Abstract

At the end of the 19th century, the teaching of mechanisms and machine science in the Italian engineering schools was based on the use of physical models of simple mechanisms as teaching devices to show to the student practical applications of theoretical classes. The same approach was applied in European academia (later worldwide) until the late 20th century similarly with the use of computers and Computer-Aided-Design leading to digitalization of teaching tools, including mechanism models via simulation. The aim of this paper is to show the connection between the machine models available in Italy and the classification of mechanisms developed in that period by distinguished figures. In particular, the catalogue of models manufactured by Giovanni Blotto is linked to the classification of mechanisms proposed by Carlo Ignacio Giulio, both working at the Royal Application School of Engineering in Turin, Italy (today Politecnico di Torino). Pictures from the main collection of the engineering schools in universities in Italy, show the fascination that these models still arise so that they could be still considered both from educational and museum points of view.