Clock Mechanism Fundamentals for Education: Modeling and Analysis

Abstract

Time keeping devices have been designed, fabricated, and widely deployed throughout history to regulate daily functions including commerce and transportation. In addition, horology offers a catalog of mankind’s innovation and demonstrates important scientific and engineering concepts. The investigation and analysis of clock systems from a mechatronics perspective illustrates the evolution of gear systems, feedback control, and transformation of energy for time measurement. In this paper, the operational behavior of an eight day mechanical clock has been studied through mathematical models, numerical simulation, and computer animation. The classroom exploration of time keeping mechanisms offers practical applications of physical principles.