Gyroscope & Totem
Overview
The Gyroscope and Totem projects are a longstanding tradition in the EME 50 course at UC Davis. Every Mechanical Engineering graduate dating back to the mid-1970s has designed and manufactured both projects.
Categories
Machining
UC Davis
Date
Sep 2022
-
Dec 2022
Gyroscope & Totem
Gyroscope: The gyroscope project is a multi-part assembly with an aluminum frame, a steel rotor/spindle, and brass bearings. Over the course of the quarter, students learn how to use the manual lathe, manual mill, and CNC mill to manufacture and assemble the parts. At the end of the quarter all the students come together to see whose gyroscope spins the longest.
Totem: The totem is a piece of round stock that are designed and machined to be interfaced on the north and south end two other classmate's totems. The tolerances for the totem need to be relatively tight so that each totem is able to stack in the at the end of the quarter.
One of the most interesting aspects of the class was that you never manufactured the totem you designed. My original design—a chess-rook–inspired piece—was reassigned before machining, so I ended up building someone else’s totem and had to collaborate closely with its designer.
Below is the totem I designed.
Gyroscope & Totem
Overview
The Gyroscope and Totem projects are a longstanding tradition in the EME 50 course at UC Davis. Every Mechanical Engineering graduate dating back to the mid-1970s has designed and manufactured both projects.
Categories
Machining
UC Davis
Date
Sep 2022
-
Dec 2022
Gyroscope & Totem
Gyroscope: The gyroscope project is a multi-part assembly with an aluminum frame, a steel rotor/spindle, and brass bearings. Over the course of the quarter, students learn how to use the manual lathe, manual mill, and CNC mill to manufacture and assemble the parts. At the end of the quarter all the students come together to see whose gyroscope spins the longest.
Totem: The totem is a piece of round stock that are designed and machined to be interfaced on the north and south end two other classmate's totems. The tolerances for the totem need to be relatively tight so that each totem is able to stack in the at the end of the quarter.
One of the most interesting aspects of the class was that you never manufactured the totem you designed. My original design—a chess-rook–inspired piece—was reassigned before machining, so I ended up building someone else’s totem and had to collaborate closely with its designer.
Below is the totem I designed.
Gyroscope & Totem
Overview
The Gyroscope and Totem projects are a longstanding tradition in the EME 50 course at UC Davis. Every Mechanical Engineering graduate dating back to the mid-1970s has designed and manufactured both projects.
Categories
Machining
UC Davis
Date
Sep 2022
-
Dec 2022
Gyroscope & Totem
Gyroscope: The gyroscope project is a multi-part assembly with an aluminum frame, a steel rotor/spindle, and brass bearings. Over the course of the quarter, students learn how to use the manual lathe, manual mill, and CNC mill to manufacture and assemble the parts. At the end of the quarter all the students come together to see whose gyroscope spins the longest.
Totem: The totem is a piece of round stock that are designed and machined to be interfaced on the north and south end two other classmate's totems. The tolerances for the totem need to be relatively tight so that each totem is able to stack in the at the end of the quarter.
One of the most interesting aspects of the class was that you never manufactured the totem you designed. My original design—a chess-rook–inspired piece—was reassigned before machining, so I ended up building someone else’s totem and had to collaborate closely with its designer.
Below is the totem I designed.
