Kinetic sculpture used to teach mechanics principles

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A new kinetic gear sculpture from SDP/SI is designed to illustrate mechanical motion principles at trade shows. It was designed and arranged by Andrea Davide, a New York-based artist who specializes in creating unique metal sculptures. This unusual work can be seen on the video above – this one minute, six second video is currently featured on the home page of the SDP/SI website.

Robert Lindemann, the recently retired vice president of SDP, designed the mechanical drive system that allows the gears to move properly. The motion is driven by an AC gearmotor inside a large rectangular base, which rotates the smaller circular base on top. The two sprockets attached to the base are driven by bevel gears in mesh with a larger stationary bevel gear inside the base. The sprockets in turn drive the roller chain wrapped around the clear circular disks. The rotation of the circular disks about their centre shaft is translated to the centre gears inside, which in turn move the entire geartrain.

If you are interested in learning more about kinetic sculptures in general, you can check out other Youtube videos on the subject at the SDP/SI home page.