Richard Bowman
Bridgewater College
________________________________________
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Ricca, Bernard P [bricca@sjfc.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 7:44 AM
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: [Phys-l] Interesting Complex Machines - Wood That Works
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Does anyone know how such a mechanism may be put together to prevent
rotation in one direction (ie. clockwise), until a small amount of
opposite rotation is generated (ie. counterclockwise), that would allow
for the primary rotation to occur (ie. clockwise)? I love it when a
student has me stumped. :-) Any help would be greatly
appreciated...from both of us. (hahaha)
----snip----
In addition to the other suggestions that have been posted, I suggest contacting the artist, David Roy (http://www.wordthatworks.com). His undergrad degree is in physics, his escapement mechanisms are sometimes quite interesting, and he might be willing to talk to you. I've seen 4 or 5 of his works live, and you should know that the "period" on some of his sculptures are well over an hour, so the short YouTube videos won't show the whole thing. (The "repetitions" aren't always exactly the same, so the motion is actually chaotic.)
Barney
Bernard Ricca, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Graduate Program in Math, Science, and Technology Education
Department of Mathematical and Computing Sciences
Saint John Fisher College
3690 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
585-899-3866 (Office)
585-899-3872 (FAX)
bricca@sjfc.edu