Mechanical Counterpart of an Electronic Transistor

Abstract

The paper introduces a mechanical counterpart of an electronic transistor, which exhibits same behavioral properties. Besides the practical contribution, this work gives an opportunity for students and engineers specializing in mechanical disciplines to learn and understand one of the basic elements in electronics through their knowledge in mechanics. The result reported in the paper enables the transformation of electronic systems into mechanical systems, with the related problems solved using mechanical knowledge, and then transferring the solution back to the terminology of electronics. Since a hydraulic device, a ‘valvistor’, analogous to a transistor, was developed a few years ago, the paper provides a general and unified perspective on this topic from the viewpoints of hydraulics, mechanics and electronics and can be used for inter-disciplinary education.