Balancing a three axis pendulum:

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April 24, 2026, 10:08 PM

Orguss

Balancing a three axis pendulum:

Skip to the 21 second mark to see the demonstration.

"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"

April 25, 2026, 06:46 PM

architect

quote:
Originally posted by bcereuss:
Space flight.

Obvious joke, can you depend on a pendulum in the absence of, or variable gravity/accelerations?

Actually, I'd think a 3D pendulum might be useful for inertial navigation in aerial or naval applications. I'd guess accelerometers are the SoTA for this, and a disturbed pendulum "swing" may well provide better or additional input to the feedback loop.

April 25, 2026, 07:46 PM

Rey HRH

At first I didn't understand. Then I saw it balance two legs and I thought that's nice. But can it do all three. Man, that's pretty good. I'd like to know the logic of how it does that balancing act.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

April 25, 2026, 09:14 PM

Appliance Brad

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
At first I didn't understand. Then I saw it balance two legs and I thought that's nice. But can it do all three. Man, that's pretty good. I'd like to know the logic of how it does that balancing act.

Chaos math in action.

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April 26, 2026, 08:31 AM

ScreamingCockatoo

quote:
Originally posted by bcereuss:
Space flight.

Absolutely. Nozzle gimbaling.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.

April 26, 2026, 08:32 AM

ScreamingCockatoo

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
quote:
Originally posted by bcereuss:
Space flight.
Obvious joke, can you depend on a pendulum in the absence of, or variable gravity/accelerations?

Actually, I'd think a 3D pendulum might be useful for inertial navigation in aerial or naval applications. I'd guess accelerometers are the SoTA for this, and a disturbed pendulum "swing" may well provide better or additional input to the feedback loop.

He is correct. Liftoff and landing gimbaling.