Equipment and Machines
Machines employ power to achieve desired forces and movement (motion). A machine has a power source and actuators that generate forces and movement, and a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement. Modern machines often include computers and sensors that monitor performance and plan movement, and are called mechanical systems.
The meaning of the word “machine” is traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to an independently functioning structure and by Merriam-Webster Dictionary to something that has been constructed. This includes human design into the meaning of machine.
The adjective “mechanical” refers to skill in the practical application of an art or science, as well as relating to or caused by movement, physical forces, properties or agents such as is dealt with by mechanics. Similarly Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “mechanical” as relating to machinery or tools.
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More recently, Uicker et al. stated that a machine is “a device for applying power or changing its direction.” And McCarthy and Soh describe a machine as a system that “generally consists of a power source and a mechanism for the controlled use of this power.”