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Clock Pendulum
Clock Pendulum: Text
Description
The goal of this project was to build a ticking clock using the various computer programs and understanding the physics of how a clock operated.To get precisely sized holes manual milling machines were used to make holes on the vertical support piece for the clocks. After creating the escapement wheel and our own pendulum design using Inventor, we would use a Lasercam to cut out the pieces. Then everything was assembled together using various sizes of nuts and bolts. The time for the rigid body and actual time were fairly close, while the working model 2-D and point mass were not close at all.
Clock Pendulum: About
The goal of this project was to build a ticking clock using the various computer programs and understanding the physics of how a clock operated.To get precisely sized holes manual milling machines were used to make holes on the vertical support piece for the clocks. After creating the escapement wheel and our own pendulum design using Inventor, we would use a Lasercam to cut out the pieces. Then assemble everything together using various sizes of nuts and bolts. The time for the rigid body and actual time were fairly close, while the working model 2-D and point mass were not close at all. For the rigid body calculation I calculated a 0.424 sec oscillation time for one revolution, a 0.608 secs for the point mass calculation, and 0.55 secs for working model 2-D. The actual time was 0.45 secs for one oscillation.
Clock Pendulum: Video
Through this project, I learned about Inventor which allowed me to make 3-D models of my pendulum and the escapement wheel. I also learned about working model 2-D and how it can be used as an effective computer simulation. Finally, I learned how engineers had to manage their time spent whether on the computers testing simulations or in the design studio building. I found out an equal amount of time should be spent on both being on the computer simulating and also designing and building the project. This would lead to being more efficient and using time more effectively. The possible errors that affected my theoretical values to my actual values would be assuming no friction or air resistance affecting the pendulum's motion. Working Model 2, is very helpful for calculations and for getting reasonable results. It is very specific and exact which could lead to small minor changes leading to very big and different results. Computer modeling through Inventor is very helpful for getting your ideas and designs sorted out. It gives a very good representation. One way I would refine my design would be to make my pendulum more symmetrical because my center of mass was horizontally off the center by 0.006 inches. Also, my etching on top came out after I did all of my predictions which could have affected the results.
Clock Pendulum: Video
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