As they talked, they continued walking and passed an exhibition hall in the town. The shape is unique, like a pearl in the mountains.
Zhan Guyue said: "I haven't seen this place yet."
Fu Shuo said, "Then go in and take a look."
There are various electromechanical devices placed in the exhibition hall.
Simple machines: such as levers, axles, pulleys, etc., used to demonstrate force transmission and mechanical optimization.
Magnetic levitation: Levitation is achieved through magnetic force.
Robot arm: Used to demonstrate the motion control and flexibility of the robot.
Model rocket launcher: used to demonstrate the rocket launch process and physical principles.
Model elevator: used to demonstrate the working principle and safety knowledge of elevators.
Game operating equipment: used for interactive experiences, including flight simulators, car driving simulators, etc.
They walked through a mechanical device with long rails and some mechanisms.
Fu Shuo asked: "What is this?"
Dong Chu looked at the introduction below and said, "This is a hydrodynamic instrument."
Fu Shuo said: "I have only heard of armillary spheres and seismographs."
By the Han Dynasty, Chinese astronomy had schools such as Gaitian, Xuanye and Huntian. The theory of covering the sky holds that the sky is like a cover, the center of the cover is the North Pole, the cover of the sky rotates to the left, and the sun, moon and stars rotate to the right. Xuanye theory believes that the sky has no shape, and the sun, moon and stars "naturally float in the void" and are not attached to the "celestial bodies". According to Huntian theory, the sky is like an egg shell and the earth is like an egg yolk. The heaven and earth stand upright with the air and carry water.
The Xuanye theory was later lost, and the two theories of Gaitian and Huntian existed side by side and competed with each other. The more scientific Huntian theory gradually gained the upper hand. At the same time, instruments for observing astronomical phenomena also continued to appear. For example, Luo Xiahong made the armillary sphere during Emperor Wu's reign, Geng Shouchang made another armillary sphere during Emperor Xuan's reign, and Jia Kui, Cui Yuan's teacher during Emperor Xuan's reign, even made a bronze zodiac instrument.
Zhang Heng inherited and developed the achievements of his predecessors. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 117), Zhang Heng built an unprecedented bronze armillary sphere. The main body of the armillary sphere is a circle that can operate in several layers. The outermost layer has a circumference of one foot, four feet and six inches. Each layer is engraved with the inner and outer rules, the south and north poles, the yellow and the equator, the twenty-four solar terms, the twenty-eight constellations, as well as the "middle" and "outer" stars, the sun, the moon, the five latitudes and other celestial phenomena. There are two clepsydras attached to the instrument. There are holes in the bottom of the pot. The dripping water pushes the circle, and the circle slowly rotates according to the scale. As a result, various astronomical phenomena appeared in front of people's eyes. This instrument was placed in the secret room of the Lingtai Hall. At night, the indoor personnel promptly reported the celestial phenomena that occurred at a certain time to the sky observers on the spiritual platform. The result was that what was seen on the instruments and in the sky were completely consistent.
Zhang Heng first made a model out of bamboo strips, named "Xiaohun", and conducted a series of tests and corrections before casting it into a large instrument. The Armillary Sphere is the product of Zhang Heng’s blood and sweat. He then wrote two instruction manuals, "Notes on the Armillary Sphere" and "Notes on the Leakage Transformation of the Armillary Sphere". He also compiled a "Lingxian" and drew a "Lingxian Map".
As early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xin Dufang of the Northern Qi Dynasty wrote "Qi Zhun", and Lin Xiaogong of the early Sui Dynasty wrote "The Book of Earthquake Bronze Instruments", both of which described the seismograph and passed down its diagrams and production methods. Based on previous speculations, Wang Zhenduo discussed various possible structures inside the seismograph, and finally concluded that the working principle of the Duzhu is similar to the inverted pendulum in modern seismographs. Specifically, the capital pillar is a copper pillar standing upside down in the center of the instrument body, with eight pillars erected around the capital pillar. Duzhu stands upright with a high center of gravity. When there is an earthquake, it loses its balance and falls into one of the eight paths. The eight channels are equipped with levers, called tooth machines. The lever passes through the instrument body and connects to the faucet's jaw. After the Duzhu is poured into the channel, the lever is pushed to lift the dragon's jaw and spit out the copper pills, which acts as an alarm. The seismograph is made of fine copper, with a round diameter of eight feet and a bulging lid, resembling a wine bottle. The surface is golden yellow, with eight golden dragons cast on the upper part, lying in the eight directions of east, west, south, north, northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest respectively. The dragon is lying down with its head downwards, each holding a small copper ball in its mouth, facing the toad squatting on the ground with its mouth open. In the center of the seismograph cavity, there is a copper pillar, thick at the top and thin at the bottom. There are eight horizontal bars around the copper pillar, called "eight paths", each connected to a dragon head. The copper pillar is a pendulum device, and the eight channels are used to control and transmit the direction of the movement of the copper pillar. When the seismometer is impacted by a seismic wave, the copper pillar will fall in the direction of the earthquake, push the crossbar and the faucet in the same direction, causing the dragon's mouth to open, and the copper ball will fall into the toad's mouth and make a sound to remind people to pay attention to what happened. Earthquakes and their timing and direction. A bead is placed on the platform. If you press it slightly downward, the bead will roll in that direction. Another example is if we light a candle and place it on an uneven table, it will always fall to the lower side. The seismometer is designed based on these simple principles. Earthquakes can be transmitted to very far places, but people cannot feel them if they are too far away, but seismometers can accurately measure them. However, Chinese scientists believe that the working principle of the seismograph should be the "suspension pendulum principle", that is, the seismograph uses the inertia of a suspended column to detect earthquakes, rather than simply erecting an upright rod at the bottom of the instrument.
Fu Shuo said, "Then how is this hydrodynamic instrument made?"
Dong Chu looked at its structure and said: "Enlarge the water droplets in the water flow and consider its various motion states and its interaction with the surrounding water droplets."
Water corresponds to the Kan hexagram in the Bagua. The hydrometer is also engraved with Kan Gua graphics.
There is a slope to simulate the fall of water droplets. The angle and length of the slope can be adjusted as needed.
Install a water drop model on the top of the slope. You can use a small ball or a round object to represent the water drop. The drop model can be mounted on a stand to ensure a stable position on the slope.
Set a receiver at the bottom of the slope to receive water droplets. The receiver is a container or funnel to collect water droplets.
Set up a mechanical device on the slope to simulate what the water droplets encounter during their movement. Use a small wheel or a swinging pole. Adjust the position and angle of the mechanical device so that it matches the movement trajectory of the water drop model. Different water droplet movement processes can be simulated by constantly adjusting the position and angle of mechanical devices such as tracks, wheels, and poles.
Start simulating the movement of the water drop, release the water drop model from the top of the slope, and observe the movement of the water drop on the slope and the movement of the mechanical device. Record the trajectory and time of the water droplet movement to facilitate subsequent analysis and research. There are many water droplets in the water flow, and the number of small balls can also be increased.
Mechanical devices can be used to simulate the movement of water droplets to better understand the movement patterns and characteristics of water droplets. It can also be used to assist in studying the movement patterns of water droplets.
