Cam and follower.

How does a cam turn rotation into a precise lift?

Setting up the mechanism…

Follower lift: 0.00mm
Cam angle: 0.00°

Fit the components, then test the mechanism.

How does a cam turn rotation into a precise lift?

The eccentric circle moves beneath a guided roller. Its contact geometry fixes follower height, and the return spring keeps the roller touching the cam as it descends.

y = e(1−cos θ) + √(30²−e² sin²θ)−30 mm

What this model simplifies

Circular cam radius 24 mm plus 6 mm roller; e = lift/2. Quasistatic contact with spring closure, no high-speed separation model.

Read the source · ocw.mit.edu ↗

Put it to work.

Raise the follower at least 19 mm.

Make it work.

Find how cam rotation raises the follower.

Run

Fine adjustments 2

Full liftmm

Cam angle°

Cam and follower.

How does a cam turn rotation into a precise lift?

Loading the experiment…

Figuvo

Understand by doing.

Understanding is something you do.

Figuvo is a place to look inside everyday things, build a connection, and discover the idea behind them.

177 interactive experiments. Each has a working model and a challenge to test what you found.

The original inspiration

Levers & fulcrums The surprising gyroscope The field cannon Inside the human body

Original demonstrations by The Bugged Dev. The teaching models and interactions here are new implementations.

Community builds

New teaching models inspired by public builds shared around Anatomy.

Anatomy · the original announcement How a rocket pushes through space · Gustavo Inside a tactile key switch · @retaqib Pressure through the coffee bed · Gustavo The overbalance wheel · Shawn A seconds pendulum clock · @Baconbrix Three feet on the ground · Soju Inside a layered particle detector · Yash A double-deck pressure cabin · Charlie Leave the spent booster behind · @quantapar Principal, interest and escrow · Sean Gear a Martian year · @samani_Two balls in, two balls out · @samani_Two slits, one probability pattern · @samani_Join through a clear plastic cover · Josh Brown Lay pipe without a sharp bend · @Phi10w Eight cylinders and a blower · @love4hxns Four columns under a Joglo roof · Nur Asyrof An office for dependent tasks · Yaroslav Yablonski One image, six editable layers · Meng To The Redis caching machine · @uviii_03 Inside the Sony CMD-J5 · Ann Afterburner thrust stand · Joshua Guo Open-back headphones · Surajan Shrestha Two-thread lockstitch machine · @slashui Signal factory · Dhruval Golakiya

Robotics

Cam and follower.

How does a cam turn rotation into a precise lift?

Setting up the mechanism…

Follower lift: 0.00mm
Cam angle: 0.00°

Fit the components, then test the mechanism.

How does a cam turn rotation into a precise lift?

The eccentric circle moves beneath a guided roller. Its contact geometry fixes follower height, and the return spring keeps the roller touching the cam as it descends.

y = e(1−cos θ) + √(30²−e² sin²θ)−30 mm

What this model simplifies

Circular cam radius 24 mm plus 6 mm roller; e = lift/2. Quasistatic contact with spring closure, no high-speed separation model.

Read the source · ocw.mit.edu ↗

Put it to work.

Raise the follower at least 19 mm.

Make it work.

Find how cam rotation raises the follower.

Run

Fine adjustments 2

Full liftmm

Cam angle°