The Machine of Bohnenberger
Abstract and Figures
Directional gyros and artificial horizons with their rotors suspended in two gimbals are well-known instruments in navigation. It is widely accepted that the first device showing already this kind of rotor support is an apparatus developed about 200 years ago at the University of Tübingen by Prof. Friedrich Bohnenberger. The original version of this instrument had been manufactured several times in Tübingen, and various well-preserved reproductions were additionally built during the 19th century as teaching aid for schools and universities in Europe and North America. Unfortunately, all of the initial specimens seemed to be lost since a long time, but recently one of them was discovered during a stocktaking at a grammar school in Tübingen. For this reason, the article introduces the instrument retrieved, portrays its inventor, and outlines some historical circumstances.
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... The latter fact was reason for a tedious search of such an original in the 1980ies and 1990ies. Finally, a copy was found in the physical collection of a school in Tübingen in 2004 [9]. Fig. 1 shows this instrument together with Bohnenberger's original drawing from 1817. ...
... Bohnenberger published his original description so late lies in his intention of designing "only" a didactical device for lectures in astronomy. Probably, it was too [7,9] 978-1-5386-0895-1/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE early to realize the technical potential of that instrument. This insight is the merit of L. Foucault and other scientists succeeding him. ...
The “Machine of Bohnenberger” is considered to be the first gyro with cardanic suspension. As this apparatus forms the precursor of Foucault’s Gyroscope of 1852, it rates as the ancestor of all gyroscopic instruments. Its inventor, Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Bohnenberger (1765-1831), was a professor of physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Tübingen, Germany, as well as the scientific head-surveying officer of the early Kingdom of Württemberg. Being the direct counterpart of C.F. Gauß in south-west Germany, he made major contributions to introducing modern geodesy in Germany; and besides his Machine, he designed also other various physical instruments. The paper gives an overview over the initial Dissemination and the further development of the Machine of Bohnenberger and outlines Bohnenberger’s scientific work and life.
... In 2004, at the Kepler Gymnasium of Tübingen, Germany, (a Gymnasium is comparable to a Lyceum or a High School) a copy of the Machine of Bohnenberger was retrieved [5]. Much better than all other samples known to the authors this example matches the historical specifications as far as size, proportions, and construction details are concerned (Fig. 2). ...
... (Until 1818, however, he had no seat or vote in the senate.) At the same time, the young family moved into the eastern wing of the Tübingen Castle right next to the observatory in the northeast tower [5]. Also during that time J.G.F. ...
Johann Gottlieb Friedrich Bohnenberger (1765-1831) was a Professor of physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Tübingen, Germany, as well as the scientific head surveying officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg. He made both major contributions to introducing modern geodesy in Germany and constructed various physical instruments. The “Machine of Bohnenberger” is considered the first gyro with cardanic suspension and forms the precursor of Foucault’s Gyroscope of 1852. This article discusses important documents, the historical context, the initial dissemination, and the further development of J.G.F. Bohnenberger’s invention.
... Im Dezember 2004 fand man im Bestand eines Tübinger Gymnasiums das bisher einzig erhaltene Exemplar einer "Maschine von Bohnenberger" (Abb. 1), das den historischen Angaben einigermaßen nahe kommt (WAGNER et al. 2005). Dieser Fund war der Anlass, sich erneut mit der Person von J.G.F. ...
J.G.F. Bohnenberger (1765–1831) war Professor für Mathematik und Astronomie an der Universität Tübingen sowie wissenschaftlicher Leiter der Vermessung Württembergs. Neben den Grundlagen der Geodäsie befasste er sich auch mit der Konstruktion physikalischer Apparate. Die „Maschine von Bohnenberger“ gilt als Vorläufer von Foucaults um 1852 entwickelten „Gyroskop“. Über die historischen Hintergründe hierzu gibt es bisher nur wenige Quellen. Ziel dieses Artikels ist es, neue Informationen vorzustellen und geschichtliche Zusammenhänge zu Bohnenbergers „Maschine“ zu beleuchten.
--- J.G.F. Bohnenberger (1765–1831) was a professor for mathematics and astronomy at the University of Tübingen as well as the scientific head of the Wuerttemberg land surveying project. Apart from his work on the fundamental principles of geodesy, he also occupied himself with the design of physical instruments. “Bohnenberger’s Machine” is regarded as the precursor of the gyroscope which was developed by Foucault around 1852. However, there are hardly any sources on its historical background. It is the aim of this article to both present new information and shed light on the historical connections of “Bohnenberger’s Machine”.
... Much better than all other samples known to the authors, this specimen matches the historical specifications as far as size, proportions, and construction details are concerned (Fig. 2). 3 13 The reason for this was a dispute over copyright with the English physicist Henry In October 1816, King Friedrich I died. He left the task of decreeing a constitution for the (new) kingdom of Württemberg to his son Wilhelm I, a former student of J.G.F. 6 Bohnenberger. ...
Johann Gottlieb Bohnenberger (1765-1831) was a Professor of physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Tübingen, Germany, as well as the scientific head surveying officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg. He made not only significant contributions to introducing modern geodesy in Germany but also constructed various physical instruments. The “Machine of Bohnenberger” is considered to be the first gyro with cardanic suspension and forms the precursor of J.B.L. Foucault’s Gyroscope of 1852. Up to now, there are only a few sources dealing with the historical background of Bohnenberger’s development and with the initial dissemination of his Machine. Therefore, the aim of this article is to present some new information and to shed light on the historical context.
... In 2004, at the Kepler Gymnasium of Tübingen (a Gymnasium is comparable to a Lyceum or a High School) a copy of the Machine of Bohnenberger was retrieved. Much better than all other samples known to the authors, this specimen matches the historical specifications as far as size, proportions, and construction details are concerned ( Figure 2) [3]. Laying the emphasis on his Machine, this finding was the reason for new research into J.G.F. ...
Johann Gottlieb Bohnenberger (1765-1831) was a Professor of physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Tübingen, Germany, as well as the scientific head surveying officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg. He made not only significant contributions to introducing modern geodesy in Germany but also constructed various physical instruments. The “Machine of Bohnenberger” is considered to be the first gyro with cardanic suspension and forms the precursor of J.B.L. Foucault’s Gyroscope of 1852. Up to now, there are only a few sources dealing with the historical background of Bohnenberger’s development and with the initial dissemination of his Machine. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present some new information and to shed light on the historical context.
The life and work of the French physicist Léon Foucault (1819–1868) has inspired a surprising amount of artistic creation which is reported here. Most creation centres on Foucault’s pendulum and gyroscope, though often the inspiration is not his demonstrations of the rotation of the Earth but Umberto Eco’s post-modern novel Foucault’s Pendulum, and for the gyroscope the metaphor of spinning and turning rather than the device’s orientational stability. Transits of Venus have inspired much more artistic creation than Foucault, and this is attributed to the impact of a mythological connection of the Cytherean planet with love and sex.KeywordsLéon FoucaultTransits of Venus and MercuryFoucault pendulumGyroscopeArtistic creation
In 2004, a gyro with cardanic suspension was recovered in the physical collection of the Kepler-Gymnasium in Tübingen. Together with a second specimen meanwhile found, these instruments seem to be the only known original copies matching the first systematic description of such an apparatus. The author of this account from 1817 was J.G.F. Bohnenberger, who called the instrument simply "Machine" und used it to demonstrate the precession of the equinoxes in lectures on astronomy.
Bohnenberger was a Professor of physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Tübingen, Germany, as well as the scientific head surveying officer of the Kingdom of Württemberg. He made major contributions to introducing modern geodesy in Germany and designed various physical instruments.
The discovery in the Kepler-Gymnasium made clear that the historical background of the "Machine of Bohnenberger" was mostly unknown. This is remarkable as this mechanical device forms the precursor of Foucault's Gyroscope of 1852 and thus paved the way to important navigation instruments like the artificial horizon, the gyro compass, and inertial navigation systems.
This article discusses important documents, the historical context, the initial dissemination, and the further development of Bohnenberger's invention. In addition, an outline of the biographies of Bohnenberger and his mechanic J.W.G. Buzengeiger, who manufactured the first specimen, is given.
Integrated navigation systems are typically a special case of integrated motion measurement systems. Up to now, such systems model the vehicle as a single rigid body reflecting mainly classical navigation requirements. However, this does not fix coercively the concept of integrated navigation. Furthermore, systems based on classical rigid body models can show stability problems during phases of low vehicle dynamics. It is possible to avoid this effect by distributing navigation sensors over a large vehicle structure. On the other hand, in this case the assumption of a single rigid body is no longer valid, as the deformations cannot be neglected anymore. Nevertheless, determining the motion of large vehicles with additional mechanical degrees of freedom is possible if appropriate motion models and suitable sensor arrangements are available. Moreover, resulting navigation data describing additionally vehicle distortions can be an interesting basis for motion control and structural health monitoring as well. The basic idea of integrated navigation systems consists of blending complementary measurement principles like combining inertial sensors with GPS receivers. The kernel of integrated navigation systems is typically a Kalman filter estimating the unknown motion state of the vehicle. The filter needs a kinematical model for interpreting the sensor signals. This model comprises a vehicle motion part and an aiding part, which reflect the mechanical meaning of all measurements and which avoid using any mass, damping, or stiffness parameters of the vehicle structure considered. Based on the theory of integrated navigation systems the paper considers flexible structures for an integrated motion measurement. For this, the example of an elastic beam has been investigated. Especially, the paper compares the Kalman filter performance for different kinematical models using peripherally distributed accelerometers, gyros, and a combination of both sensor types. The results show firstly that expanding the principle of integrated navigation systems to flexible vehicles is possible with reasonable data quality and secondly that using gyros is preferable compared to accelerometers.
Im Jahr 2004 wurde in der Physiksammlung des Kepler-Gymnasiums Tübingen ein kardanisch gelagerter Kreisel aufgefunden. Bis heute scheint dieses Instrument zusammen mit einem zweiten Exemplar, das inzwischen in einem Internetauktionshaus entdeckt wurde, das einzige Original zu sein, das explizit mit der ersten systematischen Beschreibung eines solchen Geräts übereinstimmt. Letztere wurde im Jahr 1817 durch den Erfinder des Instruments, J.G.F. Bohnenberger (1765-1831) veröffentlicht, der das Gerät einfach “Maschine” nannte. J.G.F. Bohnenberger war zu dieser Zeit Professor für Mathematik, Physik und Astronomie an der Universität Tübingen und wissenschaftlicher Leiter der Landesvermessung im jungen Königreich Württemberg.
Die Entdeckung im Kepler-Gymnasium Tübingen verdeutlichte, dass der historische Hintergrund der “Maschine von Bohnenberger” noch weitgehend ungeklärt war. Dies ist bemerkenswert, da das Instrument die Basis für J.B.L. Foucaults bedeutende Arbeit zur Kreiseltechnik war, den unmittelbaren Vorgänger seines Gyroskops darstellte und so zum Wegbereiter wichtiger mechanischer Navigationsinstrumente wie dem künstlichen Horizont, dem Kreiselkompass und der Inertialplattform wurde. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben die Autoren des Beitrags versucht, Bohnenbergers Erfindung wissenschaftsgeschichtlich ein wenig auf-zuarbeiten. Es gelang unter anderem, die anfängliche Verbreitung des Instruments, das durch den Tübinger Universitätsmechanikus J.W.G. Buzengeiger (1778-1836) hergestellt wurde, zu erhellen und den Zeitpunkt der Erfindung auf das Jahr 1810 einzugrenzen (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
This paper examines the torques and resulting drift of the Relativity Mission or Gravity Probe B (GP-B) gyroscopes due to gravity gradient forces. Drifts are examined for both forces transmitted through the gyroscope suspension and torques due to the gravity gradient acting directly on the spherical rotor. The orbit averaged gravity gradients torques are derived Considering a nonspherical Earth (J2 oblateness only) and a slightly eccentric orbit. The effects of the Sun and Moon on the gyroscopes are also discussed. The resulting drift rates for various guide star candidates is presented.
In 1752 the first written statement on a gyroscopic device was published. Starting with this apparatus the paper describes the history of the gyroscope within the past two centuries. With the artificial horizon at the beginning, the development continues with the gyrocompass, with stabilizing systems for ships, motor cars and aircrafts, and with rate and course indicators. The development culminates in gyroscopic sensors with an accuracy which makes inertial navigation feasible. 1976 Institute of Navigation
the guidance system used by the Germans in 1942 in the V–2 missile can be considered to be the first use of inertial navigation. It is true that Foucault defined the gyroscope in 1852 and that Schuler developed the gyrocompass in 1908, but the former device was only a measuring instrument and the latter, although of inertial quality, was only a partial inertial system. The Sperry flight instruments of the late 1920's and early 1930's were attitude–indicating not velocity or position-indicating devices. Earnest development of inertial navigation systems began in the United States in the late 1940's and early 1950's by the M.I.T. Instrumentation Laboratory, Northrop and Autonetics under Air Force sponsorship. This work led to the inertial guidance systems for ballistic missiles—both land and ship launched. The 1960's brought the Space Age and the advance of inertial guidance in Apollo. During this time inertial guidance systems also found their way into military and then commercial airplanes. Behind the system development was the simultaneous and necessary development of theory, analysis, components, subsystems and testing. The author, whose professional career has been simultaneous with the growth of inertial navigation, draws on his personal experiences in the field of direct association with many of the people and events involved.
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