ICUX-008 · interactive knowledge layer
Trace how motion changes form: rotation into translation, force into leverage, steady input into indexed output. Eighteen mechanism cards connect conceptual kinematics to source-visible historical and educational records.
Mechanism atlas
Every card uses the same fields: mechanism, input, output, ratio, assumptions and source diagram. Filters never hide the underlying source notes.
Showing all 18 mechanisms.
Two meshing external gears transfer rotary motion while reversing direction. In the ideal tooth-count model, output rotations per input rotation equal driver teeth divided by driven teeth.
An intermediate idler adds another direction reversal. In a simple train it relocates the output shaft without changing the ideal ratio set by the first and last gears.
Two gear stages multiply their individual speed ratios. A compound train can make large reductions without requiring one extremely large gear.
A pinion converts rotation into rack translation. Ideal rack travel for one full pinion revolution is the pinion pitch circumference.
A worm advances the wheel by a number of teeth equal to the worm starts for each worm turn. The axes are skewed, commonly near 90 degrees.
With the ring fixed, the carrier turns more slowly than the sun. Which member is fixed, input or output changes the planetary relationship.
A first-class lever places the fulcrum between effort and load. Longer effort arms trade greater input travel for larger ideal output force.
A second-class lever places the load between the fulcrum and effort, so the ideal force ratio is greater than one when the effort point is farther from the fulcrum.
A third-class lever puts effort between fulcrum and load. It trades force advantage for greater load-end travel and speed.
An open belt transfers rotation between separated shafts in the same direction. With no slip, speed ratio is inversely related to pulley diameter.
A chain drive links toothed sprockets without relying on frictional belt contact. Ideal angular ratio follows sprocket tooth counts.
A cam turns an input angle into a programmed follower displacement. Unlike a fixed gear ratio, the local motion depends on profile shape.
Offsetting a circular cam from its rotation axis creates a simple harmonic-like follower rise and fall with peak-to-peak travel near twice the eccentricity in this ideal model.
A slider-crank converts continuous rotation into reciprocating linear motion, or the reverse. Stroke equals twice crank radius in the aligned ideal model.
A four-bar linkage constrains four rigid links with revolute joints. With suitable link lengths, one link can rotate continuously while another rocks through a bounded angle.
A crank pin sliding inside a yoke slot produces direct sinusoidal slider motion. The ideal stroke is twice the crank radius.
A Geneva mechanism converts continuous driver rotation into intermittent indexed output. A six-slot wheel advances one sixth turn per engagement.
A single universal joint transfers rotation between intersecting shafts. At nonzero shaft angle the average turn count is 1:1, but instantaneous output speed varies during each revolution.
Signature working experience
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Ratio sandbox
Gear, chain and belt ratios can be expressed cleanly in simple ideal models. Lever force ratios use arm lengths. Profile- and geometry-defined mechanisms stay labeled as such.
Ideal tooth-count ratio.
Source integrity
Source records support mechanism identity and qualitative relationships. The diagrams on this page are newly drawn conceptual vectors; they are not photographs of museum models or patent plates.
Historical collection records and educational sources are linked below. No third-party photographs or diagrams are redistributed in the candidate. Simplified vectors expose their assumptions and are labeled “conceptual, not to scale.”
NASA Glenn Research Center · checked 2026-09-12
Simple-machine definitions and idealized force/direction relationships for levers, pulleys and gears.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Historical mechanism taxonomy and collection context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Spur-gear motion-transfer context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Rotary-to-reciprocating slider-crank context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Crossed-axis rotary transmission and nonuniform instantaneous output speed at an angle.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Cam/follower motion context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Intermittent Geneva indexing context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Belt transmission context.
Open source recordCornell University Library Digital Collections · checked 2026-09-12
Planetary gear-train context.
Open source recordContinue through ICU
The bicycle universe already traces force and motion through concrete assemblies. Use it as a subject-specific companion rather than treating this explorer as machine diagnosis.
