2007-12-17

The Gomboc

The first self-righting object

clipped from inventorspot.com
The Gomboc

Gabor Domokos and Peter Varkonyi, of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics created the first self-righting object , an object that, no matter where it is set down, will right itself to its natural balance. The pair discovered the "Gomboc" using mathematical concepts.
clipped from www.smh.com.au
Gabor Domokos, head of the department of Mechanics and Materials and Structures at Budapest's Technical University, shows his invention

Two Hungarians puzzled by how certain creatures with shells,
like turtles and beetles, are able to self-right have developed a
shape with one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium to
explain the phenomenon.

"Nature has created such shapes but we did not understand why
they are this way," said Gabor Domokos of the Budapest University
of Technology and Economics (BUTE).

clipped from www.spiegel.de












clipped from www.gomboc.eu

Here you can find news and photos about the Gömböc.

The article in the New York Times Magazine
The Gömböc in the New York Times Magazine
Knight's Cross for the Gömböc, Gömböc for Arnold
Nature reports on the paper
The Gömböc and the Turtles in the news of Nature Magazine

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Related:
GOMBOC.EU - A gömböc - magyar találmány, az első olyan homogén test, amelynek csupán egy stabil és egy instabil (összesen 2) egyensúlyi helyzete van.
Boffins develop a 'new shape' called Gomboc - Technology - smh.com.au
Numerator: Die Mathematik der Schildkröten-Rolle - Wissenschaft - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten
Gomboc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gomboc: World's First Self-Righting Object - Boing Boing Gadgets
Self-Righting Object, The - New York Times
Whose Bright Idea Was That? The New York Times Magazine Ideas of 2007 | Inventor Spot