`ameso dds`

ameso — The Antikythera Mechanism on Squeak EToys

Here you can find a complete emulation of the Antikythera mechanism on the Squeak EToys environment. Its construction follows the recent findings of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. I have developed this as a prototype base for educational activities on the XO machine of the One Laptop per Child initiative. Implementing the mechanism as an EToys application is a goldmine for educational activities in the following areas:

Astronomy: the motion of bodies; relationships; calendars
Arithmetic: calculating with fractions
Geometry: angles; constructing an ellipse; triangle properties; spirals
Mechanical engineering: gears
Physics: angular velocity; friction
Archeology: ancient greek technology; carbon dating; computer tomography
Computer science: emulation; problem decomposition; graphs; geometric algorithms
Science: the process of scientific discovery

Download and Run

From here you can the Antikytera emulator as open source software, distributed under the MIT License (the one recommended for OLPC applications). The current version of the application is 45. To run it you will need the following.

An installation of the Squeak Etoys environment. You can download Squeak Etoys from here.
The Antikythera emulator project file.

Once you have downloaded the files on your computer and installed Etoys, run Etoys. Then, drag and drop the Antikythera.NNN.pr file you downloaded, into Etoys, to run the Antikythera emulator.

Operation

The mechanism is operated using the following buttons:

Calendars Operates the gears calculating the Luni-solar calendar. These drive the left-hand Metonic, Callippic and the Olympiad displays.
Eclipse Operates the gears calculating the eclipse-prediction calendar. These drive the right-hand Saros and Exeligmos displays.
Back gears Operates all the above gears.
Pointer-follower Demonstrates the use of the pointer-follower mechanism in the back-dial displays. This is a simulation.
Lunar Operates the gears calculating the mean lunar month.
Hipparchos Adjust the above calculation according to Hipparchos's theory.
Moon phase Adds the gears used for calculating the Moon's phase.
Front dials Drives the front-dial gears (Lunar and Hipparchos) thus operating the front-face displays.
Back dials Drive the back-dial gears (Luni-solar and Eclipse calendar) thus operating the back-face displays.

Change Log

Version 045 2009-05-24

Update according to the details published in the Nature 2008 article.

Incorporation of the Olympiad dial and gears n3 and o1.
Rename gear o1 to q1 and q1 to ma1 to be in sync with the article's nomenclature.
Update the position of the Sun and Moon eclipse labels.
Introduce gear ma1 for the calculation of the moon phase.
Show the phase of the Moon on the front dial.
Test under Version 3.0 of Etoys.

Version 036 2007-03-16

Built according to the description published in the Nature 2006 article.

Version 007 2007-02-21

Built according to Price's book .

Video

Development Pictures

The mechanism for the luni-solar Callippic calendar

The infrastructure for the Hipparchos' lunar mechanism

Diagram of the gear relationships

All gears
All (known) gears on stage

Front face dials
The Sun and Moon dials on the device's front face

Back face dials
The dials on the device's back face

The emulator on the OLPC
The emulator running on an OLPC Beta-1 machine.

A differential mechanism proposed in the past (this proposal is not supported by modern evidence).

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Last modified: 2011-01-23