An aileron is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll, which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'.
The Rogallo wing is a flexible type of wing. In 1948, Francis Rogallo, a NASA engineer, and his wife Gertrude Rogallo, invented a self-inflating flexible wing they called the Parawing, also known after them as the "Rogallo Wing" and flexible wing. NASA considered Rogallo's flexible wing as an alternative recovery system for the Mercury and Gemini space capsules, and for possible use in other spacecraft landings, but the idea was dropped from Gemini in 1964 in favor of conventional parachutes.
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They are the primary on-hill transport at most ski areas, but are also found at amusement parks and various tourist attractions.
The telautograph is an ancestor of the modern fax machine. It transmits electrical signals representing the position of a pen or tracer at the sending station to repeating mechanisms attached to a pen at the receiving station, thus reproducing at the receiving station a drawing, writing, or signature made by the sender. It was the first such device to transmit drawings to a stationary sheet of paper; previous inventions in Europe had used a constantly moving strip of paper to make such transmissions and the pen could not be lifted between words. Surprisingly, at least from a modern perspective, some early telautographs used digital/pulse-based transmission while later more successful devices reverted to analog signaling.
Erotic furniture, also known as sex furniture, is any form of furniture that is designed to act as an aid to sexual activity. This includes furniture and harnesses designed to aid positioning, assisting with comfort, penetration level and stimulation. Other types of erotic furniture are constructed to be an aid to erotic bondage. The functionality may be obvious or the erotic furniture may be designed to appear as conventional furniture. Some conventional items of furniture such as the four-poster bed and the chaise longue traditionally have erotic associations, but they are not considered to be erotic furniture as their primary use is not erotic. Erotic furniture can also be furniture decorated with erotic art.
Kite types, kite mooring, and kite applications result in a variety of kite control systems. Contemporary manufacturers, kite athletes, kite pilots, scientists, and engineers are expanding the possibilities.
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. Tunnels are excavated through hard rock, wet or dry soil, or sand, each of which requires specialized technology.
A swing is a seat, often found at playgrounds for children, at a circus for acrobats, or on a porch for relaxing, although they may also be items of indoor furniture, such as the Latin American hammock or the Indian oonjal. The seat of a swing may be suspended from chains or ropes. Once a swing is in motion, it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until external interference or drag brings it to a halt. Swing sets are very popular with children.
A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant the ability to rock back and forth by shifting their weight or pushing lightly with their feet. Rocking chairs are most commonly made of wood. Some rocking chairs can fold.
In the study of mechanisms, a four-bar linkage, also called a four-bar, is the simplest closed-chain movable linkage. It consists of four bodies, called bars or links, connected in a loop by four joints. Generally, the joints are configured so the links move in parallel planes, and the assembly is called a planar four-bar linkage. Spherical and spatial four-bar linkages also exist and are used in practice.
Chuck Hoberman is an artist, engineer, architect, and inventor of folding toys and structures, most notably the Hoberman sphere.
Power steering is a system for reducing a driver's effort to turn a steering wheel of a motor vehicle, by using a power source to assist steering.
Hang gliding is an air sport employing a foot-launchable aircraft. Typically, a modern hang glider is constructed of an aluminium alloy or composite-framed fabric wing. The pilot is ensconced in a harness suspended from the airframe, and exercises control by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.
The rocker-bogie system is the suspension arrangement developed in 1988 for use in NASA's Mars rover Sojourner, and which has since become NASA's favored design for rovers. It has been used in the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission robots Spirit and Opportunity, on the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission's rover Curiosity, the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance and ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan in 2023.
Bicycle suspension is the system, or systems, used to suspend the rider and bicycle in order to insulate them from the roughness of the terrain. Bicycle suspension is used primarily on mountain bikes, but is also common on hybrid bicycles.
A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although motor-gliders have small engines for extending their flight when necessary by sustaining the altitude with some being powerful enough to take off by self-launch.
The Klannlinkage is a planar mechanism designed to simulate the gait of legged animal and function as a wheel replacement, a leg mechanism. The linkage consists of the frame, a crank, two grounded rockers, and two couplers all connected by pivot joints. It was developed by Joe Klann in 1994 as an expansion of Burmester curves which are used to develop four-bar double-rocker linkages such as harbor crane booms. It is categorized as a modified Stephenson type III kinematic chain.
Jesse Armour Crandall was an American inventor and toy-maker. He took out over 150 patents on toys in his 75 years of inventing. Crandall's father, Benjamin Potter Crandall, was also a toy-maker as well as three of Jesse's brothers. Unlike his brothers who remained primarily associated with their father's toy business in New York City, Jesse started his own company in Brooklyn. It was a friend, perhaps Henry Ward Beecher, who named him "The Child's Benefactor". This became his trademark and slogan.
A leg mechanism is a mechanical system designed to provide a propulsive force by intermittent frictional contact with the ground. This is in contrast with wheels or continuous tracks which are intended to maintain continuous frictional contact with the ground. Mechanical legs are linkages that can have one or more actuators, and can perform simple planar or complex motion. Compared to a wheel, a leg mechanism is potentially better fitted to uneven terrain, as it can step over obstacles.
