Mechanical Design

Computer-Aided Design

After hearing that the acrylic that we were working with was yellow, I decided to cut my pendulum out in the shape of a trophy. The symmetry of the trophy helped me significantly when computing the center of mass. In a symmetric pendulum, the center of mass is always perfectly lined up, making the oscillation period even. At the bottom of my trophy pendulum, I cut out eight symmetrically placed holes for the bolts that would weigh the clock down, making the oscillation period longer. I had to be careful with the handles of the trophy so as to not make them too thin where they would snap. I was debating making a hand off to the side holding the trophy, but I decided against it to ensure the center of gravity was directly below the axis of rotation.

The escapement wheel I made was a standard design with no special cutouts or engravings, however, I engraved a star on the face of my trophy pendulum. The teeth of the wheel along with the holes in the center needed to be uniform with the tutorial to line up with the parts we manufactured for the stand.