Invention Coach:
Motivation:
Object Stacking Helix Software
It is a fact, perhaps surprising, that if you take any object and make an unbounded number of copies of it and always place a second copy in the same orientation to a first copy, the resulting collection of objects is essentially a helix.
Story:
A Mathathon Origin
This fact was “discovered” during Public Invention’s first Mathathon, and was confirmed by a paper and private communication with Dr. Eric Lord. Since then, we have worked out a Mathematica program that computes the radius and pitch of the helix based on only the intrinsic properties of the object’s joints.
The Need for a Simplifying Software
The team is finding ways to make use of the complex formula for the radius of the object-stacking helix, which computes based on the length of the object and its angular relationship. The current formula has about 50 terms and is beyond human comprehension.
There are, however, ways we can still make use of the formula. For example, the team could graph special cases. Better yet, they could make software that allows a user to enter the angular displacement and automatically compute (render in 3D) the object stacking and the coincident helix induced by it.
This project aims to produce such a tool in a browser deliverable in JavaScript.
Related Open-Source Projects
If interested in learning more about our other projects, check the following pages for updates and volunteer opportunities:
Status:
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