Build your own!
Antikythera Mechanism
and wooden grandfather CLOCK
The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2200 year Ancient Greek portable planetarium
and is the first known analog computer marking the begining of modern computing.
The front dial displays the zodiac position of the first 5 planets, sun, moon phase and date.
The 57 gears computes addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and
7 harmonic orbit first order Fourier Transforms!
The back dials display the 72 year lunar calendar, Olympic games calendar
and most important predicts a solar or lunar ecliplse.
How does it work?
The mechanism was housed in a wooden box complete with a built in instruction manual.
The mechanism is not operated vertically as illustrated in the videos below.
The mechanism is operated horizontally to minimise gear backlash.
The Antikythera PI is a 3.14 scale wood frame replica which has
been hollowed out to highlight the genius of the Ancient Greek design.
Something a bit simpler to practice on first
Email queries to
Dr Nicholas Andronis PhD CPEng:
andronisnick@gmail.com
www.amclock.net