Edit: I found out after uploading that the Lego model is the creation of a UA-camr! Check out their channel: ua-cam.com/users/JKBrickworksVideo Is there anything you *can't* explain with a 2D model? The sponsor is Skillshare: The first 1000 people to use this link will get a free trial of Premium Membership: skl.sh/stevemould01211
What? Seriously? My entire life, I thought the spokes pointing down carried me through compression. Figured so as a child and it never occurred to me that it might be different...
I am always amazed at spokes, as it seems to my childish thoughts that only 3-5 is in compression against your body, but it uses tensegrity to make the whole wheel hold your weight.
Tensegrity structures are magical for many because we are so "matter" driven. matter like rods and beams can be seen and appear solid. Forces cables etc are not so obvious but always present. the anatomy reference was spot on. Your analysis was incisive and consice. never have see the 2d analysis until now. Thank you for your work on this.
Hey KJ. I'm sorry I didn't do enough research to figure out it was you and to mention you in the video. When I get home I'll put a link to your channel on the end screen and I'll mention you in the pinned comment! Thanks for a great model!
It’s kind of like a magic trick: All your attention is going to those longer outer wires/strings/chains/etc. But the actual work of holding up the structure is done by that one in the middle, which holds the upper piece so it can hang from the base. The outer wires then keep it in balance.
This concept would be so cool to apply to earthquake technology in buildings. Super stable along the y-axis, but there’s motion in the x and z axises. Tho I wounded if the concept would break down at a larger scale.
The only problem i see in this is the fact of a building being incredibly heavy. It may work nice with light structure but could be a disaster on heavy structures.
The issue is how would you build such a structure capable of supporting a skyscraper? Hell anything larger than a sofa would probably be a marvel if engineering to work long term
I think the main problem is, if its a skyscraper, how does it hold up under the tremendous weight? It seems pretty stable under normal conditions, but if an earthquake shakes the entire base of the structure to too much of an angle does the whole thing become top heavy and collapse?
One sentence version: The central rope carries all the weight, all the other ropes just keep it in balance by preventing it from falling to any one side.
Yes, and if you put a weight at the point where the cable connects the top and bottom shifting the center of mass to below the point where the cable attaches to the base, you could probably dispense with the additional cables completely. Of course, the thing would likely pivot around and point in different directions, but it would work with a single connecting cable.
Exactly, so I was thinking. Could you make a stool with only the load-bearing cable and do the balancing part with your feet while sitting on it? This would allow the stool to collapse when not in use for easier storage.
@@dans4323 So a piece of wood hanging on a wire or chain, without anything under it? Where I came from, we call these revolutionary new sitting apparatuses "swings".
@@SmallSpoonBrigade You could make a prop with a hollow, light weight top and heavy bottom and hide the swing mass and really trip people out! Referring to the "top" piece hanging from the base.
I think this gets needlessly overcomplicated which is why people get confused despite how simple it is. The middle one holds it up and supports the weight. The outer ones stop it from tipping in either direction. This creates a stable equilibrium.
Well yeah that's a simple explanation but poorly defined in terms of mechanics and physics. That's like saying, gravity is easy. Stuff gets pulled to other stuff.
I was absolutely not expecting to see my hometown in this video! Brisbane's Kurilpa bridge is pretty unique. I had no idea it was built with tensegrity.
Brisbane has a clever bit of physics inside public infrastructure? I'm amazed. I've only been back once since Bjelke-petersen was kicked out. It was a backwater than. I'll have to revisit.
I've seen the bridge many times, as I'm also from Brisbane... and I didn't even know what tensegrity was.... just thought the bridge was creatively build..
I actually heard we're on the verge of getting no more updates, guess the devs have simply gotten bored...then again I heard that from a leaker so it may be a lie
@@venomasmark14 there are also bugs about bouncy balls, when you throw it in a straight line you expect it to bounce in a straight line but sometimes it bounces on the left or right
Man I bet you could make a really cool musical instrument out of that tensegrity platform. Hit it like a drum and tune the wires to harmonize on a note.
The wire at the center decides that. If you have a even small steel wire it most certainly could hold a gallon easily as well. The outer tension cables decided how much sideways motion it allows.
"Showing a 2D version did not help me with anything. But less than 20 seconds later I was like wow, that makes sense now." Where has this retarded "me: whoosh / me: splat" style come from?
Another name for this principle is "dynamic tension". It's something I was taught in college, when I was studying to become a mechanical designer. In the model from the thumbnail, the shorter, central chain bears the weight of the upper piece, while the 2 longer chains act to keep the balance, and keep the upper piece from falling backwards. It's an interesting exercise in learning to see lines of force, and how they interact with each other.
3D Model: WHAT IS THIS SORCERY? 2D Model: Oh I get it 3D Model again: Its Magic 2D Model again: The rubber bands really make this easier to understand because of the visual stretching
None of these models are in 2D. There are at least 3 spatial dimensions under consideration in each example. The direction of these applied forces has nothing to do with the imaginary force of gravity (which is a lie) and everything to do with the very real weight & mass of the objects used in the examples. To the extent that the "tensegrity" in these examples are immobile, this requires the summation of these forces within the system to be zero. i.e. in static equilibrium.
@@justinlavine9209 yes, even a sheet of paper , the lead on the paper, or a strand of hair has thickness, and as such is not limited to the x-y planes. I'm sure the you've always learned your physics with extraplanstory forces included. for the rest of us, we started with simpler concepts like a mass on a frictionless surface.
@@ilovefunnyamv2nd I actually abandoned my college education in engineering & mathematics after seeing the atrocities Americans were committing for their scientific theories. I have a family member who was involved in the Challenger disaster and got to watch the shuttle burn up on launch as a school child. The failure that is NASA was then rewarded for committing this National tragedy by being given a bigger budget to hire Tom Hanks and shoot the movie 'Apollo13'. At least SETI was more or less shut down...at least until Google(TM) & Elon Musk decided to jump on the pseudo-science bandwagon.
@@justinlavine9209 yea, i kinda see the point of you being away from real people being a win-win - nobody poops at the parties, and you get to don the tinfoil in style online
This is one of those videos I almost clicked on for a couple weeks and then finally watched. Glad I did. Not an optical illusion. The cables actually hold the structure together. Cool.
@@dakewllicher3522 In other words you expect to be fed answers to problems vs applying your understanding of what you need to do to obtain the needed results? Follow that reasoning and you will fail at some point simply because you have to continue to develop new understanding and new processes. If you don't you live in the past and what you know no longer has value.
@@rogerroberts1310 funny, your telling me you can learn how anything works, without an example to actually know what your supposed to do? I said examples not straight up answers 2 diffrent things idiot.
The part about tensegrity in nature reminds me of something from "Structures: Or, Why Things Don't Fall Down" by J.E. Gordon. He said trees are under compression on the inside and tension on the outside. I thought that was neat.
Steve, you inspired me to create my own tensegrity model in my hobby machine shop. I used guitar strings and guitar string tuners to adjust tension on the three corners. The outside strings were .036" guitar strings and the center was .046". The heavier center string makes a higher pitch than the thinner outside strings when you "pluck" them. Opposite of what they would do on a guitar. That supports the assumption that each outside string carries 1/3 of the load of the center (ignoring the weight of the top half of the structure). My model turned out great and gets many comments. Keep the videos coming , l always look forward to your new releases.
out of all the surprising stuff you showcased in other videos, this is one which i immiedetely just understood, probably something just "clicked" before and i understood it just from the thumbnail
The way I saw tensegrity explained (that’s an entirely different explanation from Steve’s) that really made it “click” for me is that the top structure is hanging from the bottom one, and the wires around the outside stabilize it. Once I learned that things just snapped into place for me and I feel like I can understand it.
I've seen quite a few examples of this recently but no-one ever mentions wire spoked wheels, literally the original example. For years as a child I thought they were made of a special material that could hold my weight until a teacher said it is the ones at the top stopping you fall, not the ones on the bottom holding you up.
And the ones at the sides are stopping the thin rim from just collapsing into a buckled oblong when you put stress on it. They force the rim to remain circular and they centre it on the hub so has sideways rigidity. It's a brilliant piece of engineering, really.
@@FirstNameLastName-rh6zc i don't think so, vegetals in general are not. Their components work both in tensipn and compression (even the trunk works in tension when it's windy) But I can imagine a cyberpunk future where tumbleweed is robotic
Just your average Guy called Christopher I think they are already preparing for it. You should see the mountains of tumbleweeds blowing around right now here in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
You could create ringing percussive instruments with incredibly long sustain using something like this. and you could have them all connected by a series of tensors, as a single unit, which would allow them to interact with each other harmonically like an even more harmonically integrated harp... but percussive... Think something like singing bowls, but all integrated into each other through the harmonic series and the natural resonances of their structures travelling along the tensors, while still retaining their own voice in the system. :O like this would literally be incredible. But it would be a BITCH to tune(the tensors)and to design. EDIT: digitally controlled tensor tuning mechanism. with selectable presets :D
Same, but I still learnt the name of the tensegrity bridge in the city I live in. That and that it's tensegrity structure. I thought it just had a fancy design.
its not pulling it up its holding the weight and the other 3 wires are basically guy-wires to keep it from falling over like a tentpole with 3 guy-wires
Obviously you need more time then a while. The middle string not pulling anything up. It hold the weight of the top disk and the arm attached to it. The rest 3 wires are just for the horizontal integrity.
Funny that this same lego model from JK Extras was recommended to me from youtube about an hour ago. UA-cam must have been using your private video in it's algo deciding what I might want to see...
I got it recommended a few days ago, and after seeing this video popping up in my sub box, my brain went on a bit of a rollercoaster, thinking about how UA-cam algorithm plants ideas in our brains. Like, on the first glance it's terrifying. But then, the algorithm doesn't try to show you some stuff it wants (well, probably), it just shows people videos that similar people enjoyed watching. But then you take this idea from the context of a bunch of geeky guys and apply it to some bunch of fasci guys, and it gets scary again. But maybe the algorithm does correct for that? But then it /does/ show people what /it/ wants sometimes. I'm mostly typing it because it was curious to think about, I'm not a weird conspiracy theory person. Then again, those people are in a different UA-cam bubble and wouldn't find this video that easily - oh, shi..
@@harry.tallbelt6707 yes, the way social media works absolutely does encourage people to become gradually more extreme over time. The phenomenon is called a "filter bubble" - it's a bias that happens naturally, but social media makes it much worse, unless you make an effort to sometimes watch / include in your newsfeed material or people you disagree with.
Hi Steve, really good video. I've just graduated from university for Mechanical & Materials Engineering. Though not at all relevant to my personal work, I found your video really enjoyable & stimulating, you have such a calm and relaxed way of explaining things, you're a natural teacher. Thanks!
Finally! A random youtube recommendation that I learned something from. Thank you for the video it was quite informative and answers the questions i'd wondered about how these structures/designs worked.
First time I saw a tensegrity table , it took me forever to puzzle it .. now I see the forces in action at a glance .. beautiful structure .. it’s being held in place from falling over , similar to somebody helping you up by leaning back to balance the forces .
I first saw this demonstrated 40 years ago in Kenneth Snelson's "Needle Tower" sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum and I doubt a month has gone by since that I haven't thought about its bewildering nature. Thanks for helping me understand it better.
I had never seen tensegrity structures before and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. That being said, although I understand these structures on an intellectual level, just looking at them makes me instinctually angry because it feels like someone found a loophole in physics.
The cable in the center dropping down is keeping it from collapsing down and the side cables keep it stable. So all the weight you put on the table is held from the center cable.
The central string and curved arms stop the top and bottom plates from moving towards each other, and the outer 3 strings prevent them from moving away from each other.
i always keep forgetting what this principle of physics is called. Then i realized that Tense=stress. Stress on the wire is what keeps it up, Tensegrity
@@iamfuckingyourwaifuandther2743 _" When a bicycle wheel is built, the spokes all start out loose, then they are gradually made tighter and tighter. When complete, every spoke pulls the hub towards the rim, but all the spokes are in balance, so the hub and the rim stay put (if you screw this process up, the rim usually folds over to one side, possibly ruining it). This process is occasionally referred to as pre-tensioning, because you are putting tension in the spokes, even before they wheel has to support any load._ _It's hard to visualize (I suggest looking at a bicycle wheel), but every spoke is pulling on the hub simoultaneously, in all directions. The tension in every spoke is (very close to) identical. What's interesting is what happens to the wheel when a load is applied (someone gets on the bike). If you measure the tension in all the spokes, only those spokes in the bottom of the wheel change tension significantly - the tension decreases. In other words, the bottom spokes become more loose, all the other spokes remain unchanged. "_
false and stupid. the rim of the bicycle is compressed takes the tensile loading of the spokes. Only tension is not possible. Tension and compression must balance out. if they aren't, the system needs to expand the boundaries that you're placing on it.
You know those stupidly great idea that came up in your head before you fall asleep? How this thing work is the perfect example of those idea. When you wake up, you will remember only string, float and forgot the rest.
I just love these videos. Teaching novice how fun engineering is without Statics, Dynamics, Calculus, Diff Eq, Strengths of Materials, Materials Science, years of learning and sleepless nights for 4-5 years of study. Good times!!!!
Bike wheels rely purely on tension. About 20 years ago Tioga demonstrated this with a crazy wheel using a complex string system and more recently we're seeing kevlar and carbon chord spokes. Initial results are good too. Such spokes might be the future for XC and consumer mountain bikes offering superb strength, reduced weight and a nice bit of damping.
At 8:59 or so, if he looks at anyone and just says “You really like me” with that exact look on his face - like it or not, you _WILL_ end up liking this man very, very much.
This is definitely one of those videos that make you think "why was I not already subscribed to this channel?!" I could kinda sorta almost understand how it worked by looking at it, the 2D model did a great job of filling in the blanks.
The most crucial tensegrity structure was, of course, Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome. I designed four college auditoriums covered in them, in addition to others during my engineering career.
Wait, I thought they were all compression, the rods that form the dome shape. Are there tension cables I didn't see? Must've been cool to work on those projects.
@@Yggdrasil42 You're right. Off-the-Mark here's got things a bit messed up. A geodesic dome isn't a tensegrity structure. It's not got it's compressive members separated. Buckminster Fuller popularized and named both structures though. I believe you can make geodesic-like domes in a form that uses tensegrity. Fuller might have even designed one. But it's not the classic Buckminster Fuller Geodesic Dome.
I tried to explained this to my friends like 2 or 3 months ago... I just told them: "the string in the center prevents the top part from falling and the 3 side strings keeps it balanced. Basically, if there were only 3 directions; example: North, East, and West, If the East string is gone, the opposite side(North west) because nothing prevents it from falling to that direction, like a balanced see-saw, if the kid from the left goes away, the kid from the right falls." that's the best and simplest way I could explain it to them without and scientific terms... but only 6 of 14 understood it lol
Your videos are great. I have bought a tensegrity thing for my grand daughter. I'll make an engineer of her yet! Just one small point of pedantry, but it's important for an excellent lecturer such as yourself: it's more than one CRITERIA, but only one CRITERION. It is a very common error, perhaps I am a dinosaur and it doesn't really matter.
Like the old saying goes: « Two points fixes a line, three points fixes a plane. » Steve laughed, I laughed, the Tensegrity table laughed, I shot the tension.
In a tensegrity structure, the tension elements (typically cables or wires) are in a state of continuous tension, while the compression elements (typically struts or rods) are in a state of continuous compression. The tension elements pull the compression elements towards each other, while the compression elements push back against the tension elements, creating a balance of forces that results in a stable structure
I immediately imagined a scifi city built atop a scaled up version of this, but it would seem a bit risky as the whole structure will collapse if the central cable snaps. I supose there could be more than one center cable for redundancy and I would prably fit it with six cables along the circumference.
Edit: I found out after uploading that the Lego model is the creation of a UA-camr! Check out their channel: ua-cam.com/users/JKBrickworksVideo
Is there anything you *can't* explain with a 2D model?
The sponsor is Skillshare: The first 1000 people to use this link will get a free trial of Premium Membership: skl.sh/stevemould01211
4 dimensional space
Automatic Measured Bottle Pourer
the rotation of a 3 dimensional object, you need 4 numbers to do it.
isn't this an example of dymaxion principles?
@@zacharygegare7294 Beat me to it by 30min
A third cable makes the table stable!
With as many rhymes as you're able
- Sir William Shakespeare
--"Dr" Seuss
wow thats incredable
@@joshyoung1440 he's just talking about the 3 on the outside, or did you not pay attention?
Much like myself, it is being held up entirely by stress.
im 14 and this is deep
@@GreedyOrange i am 24 and it pierces me
Figuratively and literally because 7:58
@@1.4142 gotta watch out then,for someone might try to 5:54 you...
@@ronwesilen4536 I'm 75 and my heart is busted
A cool example of tensegrity: bicycle wheels. The spokes are all in tension, meaning they can all be lightweight wires.
There are even textile spokes made from special polyester that can handle very high tension and are even more lightweight than wires.
Wow, you're right! Never had thought about that.
Essentially the hub should hang from the spoke, not sit on it.
What? Seriously? My entire life, I thought the spokes pointing down carried me through compression. Figured so as a child and it never occurred to me that it might be different...
I am always amazed at spokes, as it seems to my childish thoughts that only 3-5 is in compression against your body, but it uses tensegrity to make the whole wheel hold your weight.
Tensegrity structures are magical for many because we are so "matter" driven. matter like rods and beams can be seen and appear solid. Forces cables etc are not so obvious but always present. the anatomy reference was spot on. Your analysis was incisive and consice. never have see the 2d analysis until now. Thank you for your work on this.
This makes perfect sense to my brain, but it still confuses my eyes.
it might be better to consider the strings as regular columns like table legs
@@minktanker9705 probability
In tbis case, this is in a sense, a visual paradox... rather than a _typical_ mental one. 🙃
yeeees
It's easier to think of it as 'this is not a support structure, but a hanging one'
Ha! Pretty cool to see my LEGO version of this model pop up in this video. Cheers!
Hey KJ. I'm sorry I didn't do enough research to figure out it was you and to mention you in the video. When I get home I'll put a link to your channel on the end screen and I'll mention you in the pinned comment! Thanks for a great model!
Well-
@@SteveMould No worries, man, it's all good. Cheers!
@@borkly2491 he made the comment 50 minutes ago, hes prolly still outside chill
@@borkly2491 it's changed now
It’s kind of like a magic trick: All your attention is going to those longer outer wires/strings/chains/etc. But the actual work of holding up the structure is done by that one in the middle, which holds the upper piece so it can hang from the base. The outer wires then keep it in balance.
Still it looks like the middle wire wouldn’t be able to that!
Best explanation 👍🏽
Well duh
i don't think so cause then it wouldn't hold its shape when it's no longer in a vertical position
@@zinebbekhtaoui5643
The cables are providing tension in opposition to each other. It has nothing to do with orientation or gravity.
This concept would be so cool to apply to earthquake technology in buildings. Super stable along the y-axis, but there’s motion in the x and z axises. Tho I wounded if the concept would break down at a larger scale.
I had that same thought process when I came across this video. I wonder how beneficial it would be in the real world
The only problem i see in this is the fact of a building being incredibly heavy.
It may work nice with light structure but could be a disaster on heavy structures.
@@TheMrPandaGamer1 Yeah, imagine just one support link breaking and the whole thing catastrophically fails
The issue is how would you build such a structure capable of supporting a skyscraper?
Hell anything larger than a sofa would probably be a marvel if engineering to work long term
I think the main problem is, if its a skyscraper, how does it hold up under the tremendous weight? It seems pretty stable under normal conditions, but if an earthquake shakes the entire base of the structure to too much of an angle does the whole thing become top heavy and collapse?
I want to make enough to replace all of my chairs with giant versions of these and watch my guests freak out.
Yeah I thought of doing that too, with my tables
But chairs thats hella awesome
@@attachedflower8008 what's ancient is using the term "special needs" as an insult. Grow up man.
@@attachedflower8008 "ugh, everyone who isn't as smart as ME, the LARGEST FOREHEAD on EARTH, is MENTALLY DISABLED."
I've seen chairs like that
@@attachedflower8008 just because somethings old doesn't mean everyone knows about it
One sentence version: The central rope carries all the weight, all the other ropes just keep it in balance by preventing it from falling to any one side.
Yes, and if you put a weight at the point where the cable connects the top and bottom shifting the center of mass to below the point where the cable attaches to the base, you could probably dispense with the additional cables completely. Of course, the thing would likely pivot around and point in different directions, but it would work with a single connecting cable.
Exactly, so I was thinking. Could you make a stool with only the load-bearing cable and do the balancing part with your feet while sitting on it?
This would allow the stool to collapse when not in use for easier storage.
And there are a number of those seats available.
@@dans4323 So a piece of wood hanging on a wire or chain, without anything under it? Where I came from, we call these revolutionary new sitting apparatuses "swings".
@@SmallSpoonBrigade You could make a prop with a hollow, light weight top and heavy bottom and hide the swing mass and really trip people out! Referring to the "top" piece hanging from the base.
Tensegrity sructures are proof of an old quote: "any sufficiently advanced technology appears as magic"
True
True
False
@@spacecube40 true
@@hugeluigifan True
I think this gets needlessly overcomplicated which is why people get confused despite how simple it is.
The middle one holds it up and supports the weight. The outer ones stop it from tipping in either direction. This creates a stable equilibrium.
thank you that is a way clearer explanation
Well yeah that's a simple explanation but poorly defined in terms of mechanics and physics. That's like saying, gravity is easy. Stuff gets pulled to other stuff.
@@itsgonnabeanaurfromme Hardly poorly defined in terms of the mechanics and physics. Throw in the word tension a few times if you like
The top is hanging from the bottom. That would be the easiest way for me to learn when i didnt get it at first
Nah, "holds it up and supports the weight" suggests a compression to me, but there's actually a tension
My dad has been making these for years. He's got a massive one as a table in the garden that confuses the hell out of anyone that visits XD
I was just wondering how big can you make these.
Yo, can you show us a pic?
@@Warren1138 As big as you'd like. As noted in the video, there are bridges made similar.
@@khumbaba he made a video about it on his channel in nearby future
@@marcelwo4jedynki you sir is a time traveller
Oh yes that old saying everyone remembers their mother whispering into their ear at night: "two points fixes a line, 3 points fixes a plane"
lol my parents and uncle told me science-y bedtime stories so that's actually relatable.
Underrated comment
My mum used to say "the force of gravity acting on two objects is inversely proportional to the distance between them." Ah, the memories of youth.
My mum always warned me about colinear points.
In my family it was "Pi R Squared. No Pi are round. Cornbread are squared."
7:38 never in my entire life did I ever think we, as a species, would create a robotic tumbleweed.
CP Grey must be in shock right now😂
*texas cyberpunk 2077*
Well, things in nature have purposes for their features. I'm surprised that our species didn't think to make a robotic tumbleweed sooner.
@@abadgurl2010 what if tumbleweed is just insects engineering a vehicle? They could be rolling around in there and we'd never know.
True. Along with mechanized cigarettes, mechanized joints and a.i. drones.
I was absolutely not expecting to see my hometown in this video! Brisbane's Kurilpa bridge is pretty unique. I had no idea it was built with tensegrity.
Brisbane has a clever bit of physics inside public infrastructure? I'm amazed. I've only been back once since Bjelke-petersen was kicked out. It was a backwater than. I'll have to revisit.
I've seen the bridge many times, as I'm also from Brisbane... and I didn't even know what tensegrity was.... just thought the bridge was creatively build..
@@kingjezza6567 I always thought tensegrity meant worried and sandy...
This man's house would make the perfect therapy office.
Sure it would
It sure would
Would it sure
It would sure
Surely it would due to the ambient that emits from the background.
When will the devs fix this glitch.
Probably never
The dev : it's a feature now
I actually heard we're on the verge of getting no more updates, guess the devs have simply gotten bored...then again I heard that from a leaker so it may be a lie
@@venomasmark14 yeah
@@venomasmark14 there are also bugs about bouncy balls, when you throw it in a straight line you expect it to bounce in a straight line but sometimes it bounces on the left or right
WoW, very complex stuff made simple by your 2D explanation. Thank you.
Man I bet you could make a really cool musical instrument out of that tensegrity platform. Hit it like a drum and tune the wires to harmonize on a note.
do it do it do it
@@thesure1 HARDER!
Instructions unclear, harmonized with a parallel universe
You are smort
Ha! Thats a load of.... Hmmm... One sec [scribbling and calculator noises]... you mad fucking genius.
I'm desperate to know if it can hold a cup of tea!
Don't put it on the wrong side
I wouldn’t trust it but probably
Kurilpa bridge !
The wire at the center decides that. If you have a even small steel wire it most certainly could hold a gallon easily as well. The outer tension cables decided how much sideways motion it allows.
if you're putting a cup of liquid, make sure its super hot first.
just kidding, don't do that
Me: showing a 2D version won’t help with anything
Me not even 20 seconds later: wow that makes sense now
Exactly what happened
"Showing a 2D version did not help me with anything. But less than 20 seconds later I was like wow, that makes sense now." Where has this retarded "me: whoosh / me: splat" style come from?
@@seriouscat2231 boomer
@@cirejc2235, what? Some guy with that name invented it?
@@seriouscat2231 you know what a meme is right? Same principle. It's a linguistic meme, one of many.
I've always just seen it as the middle wire actually holding the top part, and the exterior wires balancing the piece
That is a totally correct way of looking at the problem. It's also my preferred perspective.
Yup. Same
Same way I look at it.
Does this perspective work if you turn the structure 90° and hold it horizontally? There's no more top/bottom part and no balancing.
How? How would the wire hold it up? Why doesn't it just flop down?
Another name for this principle is "dynamic tension".
It's something I was taught in college, when I was studying to become a mechanical designer.
In the model from the thumbnail, the shorter, central chain bears the weight of the upper piece, while the 2 longer chains act to keep the balance, and keep the upper piece from falling backwards.
It's an interesting exercise in learning to see lines of force, and how they interact with each other.
That is the simple explanation that made me finnaly understand it.
This reminds me of metal bending
Thank you for this information
Very easy to understand this explanation. Thanks
Interesting that you learned it in engineering/design, I learned the concept in anatomy, our bodies are built this way.
3D Model: WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?
2D Model: Oh I get it
3D Model again: Its Magic
2D Model again: The rubber bands really make this easier to understand because of the visual stretching
None of these models are in 2D. There are at least 3 spatial dimensions under consideration in each example.
The direction of these applied forces has nothing to do with the imaginary force of gravity (which is a lie) and everything to do with the very real weight & mass of the objects used in the examples.
To the extent that the "tensegrity" in these examples are immobile, this requires the summation of these forces within the system to be zero. i.e. in static equilibrium.
@@justinlavine9209 yes, even a sheet of paper , the lead on the paper, or a strand of hair has thickness, and as such is not limited to the x-y planes.
I'm sure the you've always learned your physics with extraplanstory forces included. for the rest of us, we started with simpler concepts like a mass on a frictionless surface.
@@ilovefunnyamv2nd I actually abandoned my college education in engineering & mathematics after seeing the atrocities Americans were committing for their scientific theories.
I have a family member who was involved in the Challenger disaster and got to watch the shuttle burn up on launch as a school child. The failure that is NASA was then rewarded for committing this National tragedy by being given a bigger budget to hire Tom Hanks and shoot the movie 'Apollo13'. At least SETI was more or less shut down...at least until Google(TM) & Elon Musk decided to jump on the pseudo-science bandwagon.
@@justinlavine9209 yea, i kinda see the point of you being away from real people being a win-win - nobody poops at the parties, and you get to don the tinfoil in style online
@@raiyiar Thank you! With a real job, I actually have free time and enough money to afford my own place.
Talks about Tensegrity.
Sponsorship: no strings attached.
That is incredibly interesting! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video❤
This is one of those videos I almost clicked on for a couple weeks and then finally watched.
Glad I did. Not an optical illusion. The cables actually hold the structure together.
Cool.
Yep
Yep
Yep
Uep
Yep
this feels like one of those troll face infinite energy jokes
Step 1. Cover yourself in oil.
1. Stress wires
2. Make a table with the top connected to the bottom with said wires
3. Floating table
U mad scientists?
@BB Jerry actually, it's step 3
@@smug303
Was that in the procedures?
@@junkyyard2273 what?
ah yes: "the string wants to collapse but constant stress is keeping it up"
relatable
The set up and the spike. You guys should play volleyball together.
Maybe i am Not human but tensegrity
*Underrated*
Mood
It doesn’t float. It hangs.
7:20 Why didn't my science teachers ever show us this kind of shit when they wanted us to make vessels to protect a raw egg in an egg drop?
You were there to LEARN
It was a test to see which of us could figure it out. If you did, the aliens took you away to train you as a Gunstar pilot #LastStarfighter
@@rogerroberts1310 sure, learn? With 0 examples? That aint possible
@@dakewllicher3522 In other words you expect to be fed answers to problems vs applying your understanding of what you need to do to obtain the needed results? Follow that reasoning and you will fail at some point simply because you have to continue to develop new understanding and new processes. If you don't you live in the past and what you know no longer has value.
@@rogerroberts1310 funny, your telling me you can learn how anything works, without an example to actually know what your supposed to do? I said examples not straight up answers 2 diffrent things idiot.
The part about tensegrity in nature reminds me of something from "Structures: Or, Why Things Don't Fall Down" by J.E. Gordon. He said trees are under compression on the inside and tension on the outside. I thought that was neat.
Gordon writes some good books! His “New Science of Materials” book makes a quite tricky field (to me at least) feel relatively accessible too.
I’m hoping to read that one soon.
Steve, you inspired me to create my own tensegrity model in my hobby machine shop. I used guitar strings and guitar string tuners to adjust tension on the three corners. The outside strings were .036" guitar strings and the center was .046". The heavier center string makes a higher pitch than the thinner outside strings when you "pluck" them. Opposite of what they would do on a guitar. That supports the assumption that each outside string carries 1/3 of the load of the center (ignoring the weight of the top half of the structure). My model turned out great and gets many comments. Keep the videos coming , l always look forward to your new releases.
Whoa! That's really cool! Good job man!
out of all the surprising stuff you showcased in other videos, this is one which i immiedetely just understood, probably something just "clicked" before and i understood it just from the thumbnail
The way I saw tensegrity explained (that’s an entirely different explanation from Steve’s) that really made it “click” for me is that the top structure is hanging from the bottom one, and the wires around the outside stabilize it. Once I learned that things just snapped into place for me and I feel like I can understand it.
Yea it's kinda cheeky when you realise that.
That... Actually makes so much sense. Thanks!
Wasn't it obvious? It's the first thing I thought when I saw the thumbnail.
Asking because different people notice different things
@@Anankin12 it was obvious for me
but things are only obvious once you realize them
Ooohh holy shit it finally clicked for me. Thank you!
"it wants to collapse but constant stress wont allow it" -some weird cool model
Thats a bit too relatable
@@vhroom3436 Totally
I've seen quite a few examples of this recently but no-one ever mentions wire spoked wheels, literally the original example. For years as a child I thought they were made of a special material that could hold my weight until a teacher said it is the ones at the top stopping you fall, not the ones on the bottom holding you up.
And the ones at the sides are stopping the thin rim from just collapsing into a buckled oblong when you put stress on it. They force the rim to remain circular and they centre it on the hub so has sideways rigidity. It's a brilliant piece of engineering, really.
Good point!
I always thought of it as the center cable holds the upper plate up, while the other three stabilise it.
technically, you're correct!
Isn't that how it works? Center cable holds it up, the rest stabilize it and keep it from falling over.
Thats what i thought..
Bucky's hanging pucky is a bit fucky wucky
Me too!
"That's my secret, cap. I'm always stressed."
7:38 - Finally, a synthetic tumbleweed.
@@FirstNameLastName-rh6zc i don't think so, vegetals in general are not. Their components work both in tensipn and compression (even the trunk works in tension when it's windy)
But I can imagine a cyberpunk future where tumbleweed is robotic
@@FirstNameLastName-rh6zc
No because the pieces are touching each other with both tension and compression on them.
This is going to be used in Wild West plays in a robot post apocalyptic utopia
Just your average Guy called Christopher I think they are already preparing for it. You should see the mountains of tumbleweeds blowing around right now here in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
You could create ringing percussive instruments with incredibly long sustain using something like this. and you could have them all connected by a series of tensors, as a single unit, which would allow them to interact with each other harmonically like an even more harmonically integrated harp... but percussive...
Think something like singing bowls, but all integrated into each other through the harmonic series and the natural resonances of their structures travelling along the tensors, while still retaining their own voice in the system.
:O like this would literally be incredible.
But it would be a BITCH to tune(the tensors)and to design.
EDIT: digitally controlled tensor tuning mechanism. with selectable presets :D
I’m a percussionist and you have given me some very expensive ideas
4:31 That is a very old saying indeed
Wisdom of the ancients
"... non-co-linear points..." to be pedantic.
@@benjaminmiller3620 that's the kind of pedantry I like
@@benjaminmiller3620 points can't be collinear. Lines and vectors can... To be pedantic
@@Kokurorokuko Three points on the same line can be.
Website: Stirling engines
*Sells table*
Steve makes a video
TABLES SOLD OUT
Me: *knows how tensegrity works*
Steve: *makes a video explaining tensegrity*
Also me: *watches the video anyway because it's Steve*
Also me : see's a "ball" with tensegrity applied to and has my mind blown.
Same, but I still learnt the name of the tensegrity bridge in the city I live in. That and that it's tensegrity structure. I thought it just had a fancy design.
You are in tensegrity with this Channel!
I watched because I know Steve goes into detail, I can understand it betterz instead of a basic visual and physical understanding.
Tensegrity seems really obvious in how it works, but it's reassuring to watch and make sure I haven't missed something
me in class watching science videos like this: 🙄😴🤮🤨😡👺
me at home watching these videos: 😃😌😲🤓🤠🥴🙂
Have you guys noticed how strange the URL of this video is? "0onncd0_0-o"
It even has an emoji "surprised" face in it.
i didn't notice it u_u
Wow 0_0
I have it in my name
And 0-o
Oh my uwu
It really took me a while to realise the middle string is pulling the top part up. It is so confusing xD
its not pulling it up its holding the weight and the other 3 wires are basically guy-wires to keep it from falling over like a tentpole with 3 guy-wires
Obviously you need more time then a while. The middle string not pulling anything up. It hold the weight of the top disk and the arm attached to it. The rest 3 wires are just for the horizontal integrity.
holding rather than pulling
This makes me think of the self standing balancing bird toy, somehow.
Have you understood it yet? Lol... still not until today? Lol...
We own that exact baby toy. I love playing with that thing. Oh, and our Daughter does too I guess.
I love baby toys.
Haha
That sounds adorable
😁
Never heard of Tensegrity before, even though I went to Art School which included architecture! Great explanation Steve and a brilliant video. :-)
5:10 Come on, come on, get down with the stiffness!
Madness has now come over me.
Funny that this same lego model from JK Extras was recommended to me from youtube about an hour ago. UA-cam must have been using your private video in it's algo deciding what I might want to see...
I got it recommended a few days ago, and after seeing this video popping up in my sub box, my brain went on a bit of a rollercoaster, thinking about how UA-cam algorithm plants ideas in our brains. Like, on the first glance it's terrifying. But then, the algorithm doesn't try to show you some stuff it wants (well, probably), it just shows people videos that similar people enjoyed watching. But then you take this idea from the context of a bunch of geeky guys and apply it to some bunch of fasci guys, and it gets scary again. But maybe the algorithm does correct for that? But then it /does/ show people what /it/ wants sometimes.
I'm mostly typing it because it was curious to think about, I'm not a weird conspiracy theory person. Then again, those people are in a different UA-cam bubble and wouldn't find this video that easily - oh, shi..
@@harry.tallbelt6707 yes, the way social media works absolutely does encourage people to become gradually more extreme over time. The phenomenon is called a "filter bubble" - it's a bias that happens naturally, but social media makes it much worse, unless you make an effort to sometimes watch / include in your newsfeed material or people you disagree with.
Lol same here
I'm a structural engineer. This is my work. I still watched because it's Steve.
Sometimes it helps to hear a good explanation of your expert subject written for the ley person. And it's Steve.
This is insanely awesome. BRILLIANT! The object is essentially balanced from "the top" instead of "the bottom".
Hi Steve, really good video. I've just graduated from university for Mechanical & Materials Engineering. Though not at all relevant to my personal work, I found your video really enjoyable & stimulating, you have such a calm and relaxed way of explaining things, you're a natural teacher. Thanks!
Finally! A random youtube recommendation that I learned something from. Thank you for the video it was quite informative and answers the questions i'd wondered about how these structures/designs worked.
"By changing the length of the cables in tension, you can actually move the structure around robotically"
*Structure rolls down the hill*
First time I saw a tensegrity table , it took me forever to puzzle it .. now I see the forces in action at a glance .. beautiful structure .. it’s being held in place from falling over , similar to somebody helping you up by leaning back to balance the forces .
I first saw this demonstrated 40 years ago in Kenneth Snelson's "Needle Tower" sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum and I doubt a month has gone by since that I haven't thought about its bewildering nature. Thanks for helping me understand it better.
it's 3am here in my country and youtube recommended something THAT I REALLY CURIOUS ABOUT.
amazin
I had never seen tensegrity structures before and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. That being said, although I understand these structures on an intellectual level, just looking at them makes me instinctually angry because it feels like someone found a loophole in physics.
Lol. I'm just jealous of the people getting paid to make interesting looking bric-a-brac while I can barely get a job.
i made one of these with lego and string, it worked really well, suprisingly easy to make too.
This looks so fake! Even i understand how it works, my brain still says, no way this is real and functional.
It is real, try to make a Lego one, it's not magic, *its gravity*
@@maximusy8311 *electromagnetism* actually, as that's all tension and compression is atoms and molecules trying to pull apart or squeeze closer.
@@Mike__B well yeah makes more sense..
@@maximusy8311 He said he understands how it works, but his mind still denies it
@@Mike__B electromagnetism and electron exclusion forces.
If they do not call that robot a "rolly pulley" I am going to have a rage induced stroke.
Why do I feel the need to make a coffee table using this now
I was thinking dining table
@@autohmae Neither of them will ever get made.
@@jasonatkins6111 Lots of people already did.
Now i want a full sized table like this
3:34 I wanted him to do this since I first saw the 2D model. I'm satisfied now
I tried speculating how this was possible with just the thumbnail, to my surprise, for the first time I wasn't all that off, felt awesome! Thanks.
The cable in the center dropping down is keeping it from collapsing down and the side cables keep it stable. So all the weight you put on the table is held from the center cable.
The central string and curved arms stop the top and bottom plates from moving towards each other, and the outer 3 strings prevent them from moving away from each other.
Duh
i always keep forgetting what this principle of physics is called. Then i realized that Tense=stress. Stress on the wire is what keeps it up, Tensegrity
@Egor Lobaskin the stressgrity tensor
Never thought I'd see Brisbane in a Steve Mould video! It's actually a pretty wicked bridge!
As a Sydneysider I never knew it existed. Off to Wikipedia!
I'd come at look at it in person, but, y'know... Queenslanders....
;)
It's a hideous monstrosity that I've suddenly gained a lot of respect for.
People still can't grasp this, imagine when you tell them that bike's spokes are also in tension and not compression
Rip brain
@@iamfuckingyourwaifuandther2743 _" When a bicycle wheel is built, the spokes all start out loose, then they are gradually made tighter and tighter. When complete, every spoke pulls the hub towards the rim, but all the spokes are in balance, so the hub and the rim stay put (if you screw this process up, the rim usually folds over to one side, possibly ruining it). This process is occasionally referred to as pre-tensioning, because you are putting tension in the spokes, even before they wheel has to support any load._
_It's hard to visualize (I suggest looking at a bicycle wheel), but every spoke is pulling on the hub simoultaneously, in all directions. The tension in every spoke is (very close to) identical. What's interesting is what happens to the wheel when a load is applied (someone gets on the bike). If you measure the tension in all the spokes, only those spokes in the bottom of the wheel change tension significantly - the tension decreases. In other words, the bottom spokes become more loose, all the other spokes remain unchanged. "_
Imagine spokes being in compression, they would all buckle instantly
false and stupid. the rim of the bicycle is compressed takes the tensile loading of the spokes. Only tension is not possible. Tension and compression must balance out. if they aren't, the system needs to expand the boundaries that you're placing on it.
@@schvanger I believe there's no compression. Maybe Steve could build a bicycle wheel out of string to settle the argument.
You know those stupidly great idea that came up in your head before you fall asleep? How this thing work is the perfect example of those idea. When you wake up, you will remember only string, float and forgot the rest.
This would be perfect for those egg drop tests
Love the 2D explanations! Thanks Mr..Mould!
What a cool video. Learned something new. You're a great presenter and educator, Steve. Deserve all the successes.
Cheers,
Nick
I have never seen anything like this, very cool. Thank you for sharing
Stays up through constant stress. I’ve seen this one before
Bro...
"what do you mean, it's brand new!"
_you ok?_
@@Destro65 yesnt
@@_sqwid u wanna tslk abt it?
your hard work and simplicity has resulted in the exponential growth of your channel, Steve!
I just love these videos. Teaching novice how fun engineering is without Statics, Dynamics, Calculus, Diff Eq, Strengths of Materials, Materials Science, years of learning and sleepless nights for 4-5 years of study. Good times!!!!
Bike wheels rely purely on tension. About 20 years ago Tioga demonstrated this with a crazy wheel using a complex string system and more recently we're seeing kevlar and carbon chord spokes. Initial results are good too. Such spokes might be the future for XC and consumer mountain bikes offering superb strength, reduced weight and a nice bit of damping.
At 8:59 or so, if he looks at anyone and just says “You really like me” with that exact look on his face - like it or not, you _WILL_ end up liking this man very, very much.
This is definitely one of those videos that make you think "why was I not already subscribed to this channel?!"
I could kinda sorta almost understand how it worked by looking at it, the 2D model did a great job of filling in the blanks.
The most crucial tensegrity structure was, of course, Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome. I designed four college auditoriums covered in them, in addition to others during my engineering career.
Wait, I thought they were all compression, the rods that form the dome shape. Are there tension cables I didn't see? Must've been cool to work on those projects.
@@Yggdrasil42 You're right. Off-the-Mark here's got things a bit messed up.
A geodesic dome isn't a tensegrity structure. It's not got it's compressive members separated.
Buckminster Fuller popularized and named both structures though.
I believe you can make geodesic-like domes in a form that uses tensegrity. Fuller might have even designed one. But it's not the classic Buckminster Fuller Geodesic Dome.
Love tensegrity structures. And love recognising the bridge I often walk across at 8:20 :-)
Pfp checks out
Only 4 minutes of your video, and I imideatly understood the concept. Thank you!
I tried to explained this to my friends like 2 or 3 months ago...
I just told them:
"the string in the center prevents the top part from falling and the 3 side strings keeps it balanced. Basically, if there were only 3 directions; example: North, East, and West, If the East string is gone, the opposite side(North west) because nothing prevents it from falling to that direction, like a balanced see-saw, if the kid from the left goes away, the kid from the right falls."
that's the best and simplest way I could explain it to them without and scientific terms... but only 6 of 14 understood it lol
Your videos are great. I have bought a tensegrity thing for my grand daughter. I'll make an engineer of her yet!
Just one small point of pedantry, but it's important for an excellent lecturer such as yourself: it's more than one CRITERIA, but only one CRITERION. It is a very common error, perhaps I am a dinosaur and it doesn't really matter.
Never seen anything like this before... earned a subscribe! I am still in awe of the structure!
A bicycle tire 🚲
I love these too much. When i forgot the name for them i was so sad but now i know again!!!
I had that toy as a child and completely forgot about it until I saw this video and it gave me a HUGE rush of multisensory memories. Incredible.
Like the old saying goes: « Two points fixes a line, three points fixes a plane. »
Steve laughed, I laughed, the Tensegrity table laughed, I shot the tension.
Very interesting stuff; a great breakdown of the principles for us non-engineers. Thanks!
In a tensegrity structure, the tension elements (typically cables or wires) are in a state of continuous tension, while the compression elements (typically struts or rods) are in a state of continuous compression. The tension elements pull the compression elements towards each other, while the compression elements push back against the tension elements, creating a balance of forces that results in a stable structure
I want to make one of these now.
I want to make a tensegrity coffee table or desk.
@@23Scadu I'd also love one. The channel Evan and Katelyn made one and it turned out so well 😍
DO IT!
I immediately imagined a scifi city built atop a scaled up version of this, but it would seem a bit risky as the whole structure will collapse if the central cable snaps. I supose there could be more than one center cable for redundancy and I would prably fit it with six cables along the circumference.
This is a super cool concept! Makes sense for a sort of settlement on a planet surface with frequent earthquakes or something
Every engineering student who took static class: what's so special about the structure
I learned about it in high school.
I simplyb don’t support thia statement
I love this guy, he always looks like he's just getting over a cold. Much love, thanks!