Sixty wheels

2002



Sixty Wheels is a Windows application for demonstrating concept of Fourier Series and Harmonic Analysis. The application simulates 60 turning wheels, which can be connected to each other at any point on their perimeter. The radius, phase and turning speed can be set for each wheel. The program shows the front and side view of the turning wheels. The path followed by the side view is plotted against time on a graph.

When enabling the "I draw graph" option, you can draw a periodic waveform directly on the graph. You can then click the "Fourier" button and the application will calculate the sizes, phases and speeds of the wheels to reproduce the waveform.

There is no user manual, just feel free to experiment.

The downloadable file is a zip file containing a Windows executable program. Just download the zip file, extract the contents, and start up the program.


To get started:

1. Start up the program (sixtywheels.exe).
2. Click the "Turn" button.
3. Click the "60" button.
   You should now see 60 wheels turning.
4. Click one of the 4 preset buttons (the buttons with signal shapes under the "Fourier" tab).
   This will load preset wave forms and the wheels to reproduce them.
5. When the "I draw graph" option is checked, you can draw a wave form on the graph. Click the "Fourier" button to calculate the wheels required to reproduce the graph.

Included in the program is a simulation of a hypothetical mechanical harmonic analyzer (incomplete, first harmonic only), inspired by T.J. van Vark's account of the history of mechanical harmonic analyzers, and her fantastic collection of mechanical integrators, for both human use (such as in early computing) and machine use (such as in early aviation, navigation and bombing).


Email address shown in the program title bar is incorrect.
My email address: timsamshuijzen@gmail.com