Awesome Henry Segerman

Mathematician Henry Segerman is back with another fascinating mechanism – a six-axis rack. It’s built with a dozen gears and sticks that look like long, green crinkle fries. The combination of parts locks the structure together, and moving any stick makes all of the others move. Like Henry’s other designs, you can download the 3D printer files Printables.

Mathematician and maker Henry Segerman shows off more of his fascinating interactive mechanisms. This series of interlocking straight gears uses a rack-and-pinion mechanism to transmit motion. Henry posted the models to 3D print your own recursive racks on Printables.

Despite what your eyes are telling you, the blue and red LEGO space explorer minifigs in this image are the exact same size. Mathematician Henry Segerman shows how perspective and a custom 3D-printed structure produce this mind-bending optical illusion.

Using CGI, it’s possible to create fractal images that can be zoomed into infinitely. Inspired by the work of Feliks Konczakowski, mathematical artist Henry Segerman created an infinite zoom illusion using a real-world 3D-printed model. He pulled off the effect using a computer-controlled slider, a turntable, and precision editing.

Inspired by the geometric star art of John and Jane Kostick, mathematical artist Henry Segerman shows off a neat bit of mechanical engineering which uses a set of five geared racks that can smoothly slide through each other. The model is available as a 3D print from Shapeways, but it’s not cheap.