> On 7 Feb 2019, at 19:33, Rob Seaman <[email protected]> wrote: > > The Corpus Clock is entirely mechanical (and analog), isn't it? >
No, it is much more complicated than that. Let me c&p the relevant bits of my old blog post... https://fanf.dreamwidth.org/96948.html > The clock's spring has to be particularly strong in order to overcome the > momentum of the large escape wheel that goes around the outside of the clock. > When prototyping the clock this caused a serious problem: the force of the > spring is transmitted through the escapement to the pendulum, making it swing > higher and higher and eventually breaking the clock. Taylor overcame this > problem by adding a regulator, which also serves two other functions: it > produces the clock's erratic behaviour that plays tricks with observers, and > it listens to the MSF time signal to synchronize the clock every five > minutes. (Taylor confirmed to me after the talk that these are all functions > of the same mechanism. He also said that the hollow pendulum bob is not in > fact "massive and weighty" as the book says, which answered my question about > conservation of momentum.) I'm not sure how this is consistent with his > assertions that the clock is purely mechanical - would it work if the > computer regulator broke? News reports about the clock's teething problems > suggest that it's pretty vital. I wonder if the maintenance periods this week > and back in January are for software patches rather than mechanical > adjustment? Tony. -- f.anthony.n.finch <[email protected]> http://dotat.at
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