“We made a gravity-powered, acrylic clock with a minute and hour hand. This is achieved by utilizing two heavy weights and a pendulum that allows the clock to “tick” once a second. The pendulum must not slow down or else the clock would stop moving, so in order to keep the clock in perpetual motion, a mechanism called an escapement is used to “nudge” the pendulum as it swings to keep it in motion. The force behind this “nudge” comes from the hanging mass, which converts its gravitational force into rotational torque that powers the escapement. The pendulum’s oscillation is then converted into rotational speed that moves a gear train at the new, precise speed created by the escapement. Once the gear achieves one rotation per sixty minutes, a rod attached to the gear’s center carries the rotation to the minute hand of the clock. Then, gears interlocking with the minute hand convert the rotational speed from one rotation every hour, to one rotation every twelve hours, giving us the correct timing for the hour hand. A cylindrical, brass sleeve is placed around the rod attached to the minute hand, which allows the hour hand to rotate independently of the minute hand, while still on the same axis. The frame of the clock is made of wood that was cut using a CNC machine, the more complex parts were 3D printed, and all of the gears were laser cut from acrylic sheets. Once all of the parts were modeled on solidworks and an assembly was made, all the parts were produced and assembled in the shop.”