Hun Yi - a spherical pointing and measuring instrument invented in Ancient China

Yingwei Guo, Zhijiang Xie, Shaoping Bai*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/conference proceedingArticle in proceedingResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Hun Yi is an armillary sphere invented in ancient China. The Hun Yi is essentially a spherical pointing mechanism, which was built with equatorial mounting of sighting tube, an invention to usher the modern world of astronomical instruments. This paper reviews the Hun Yi from perspective of mechanism design. Its history of development and kinematic structure are briefly introduced. The working principle is interpreted by kinematics, along with its workspace analysis and error analysis. Reconstruction work with 3D printing technology is described. Moreover, the range of pointing and its error are analyzed to reveal the hiding technical information about Hun Yi that is not available in literature.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMechanisms and Machine Science : Proceedings of the 4th IFToMM Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics
EditorsAlessandro Gasparetto, Marco Ceccarelli
Number of pages9
PublisherSpringer
Publication date2019
Pages318-326
ISBN (Print)978-3-030-00364-7
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-030-00365-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event4th IFToMM Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics - Udine, Italy
Duration: 11 Sep 201813 Sep 2018

Conference

Conference4th IFToMM Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityUdine
Period11/09/201813/09/2018
SeriesMechanisms and Machine Science
Volume66
ISSN2211-0984

Keywords

  • Ancient spherical mechanism
  • Armillary sphere
  • Error analysis
  • Pointing mechanism
  • Workspace

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hun Yi - a spherical pointing and measuring instrument invented in Ancient China'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this