Infinity Machine

The infinity machine has 17 movable gears and one fixed gear. The 17 movable gears are driven by a motor.

Due to the gear ratio, it can be observed that from the 5th gear onwards, the subsequent gears appear to be stationary.

With the chosen gear ratio and the play between the gear wheels, the machine will only destroy itself in a thousand years

For calculating how long the last movable gear takes for a full rotation, I am providing some details here:

• Motor output gear 14 teeth
• Large gears 75 teeth and 14 teeth
• The first large movable gear takes 34 s for a full rotation for me

I performed the calculation using a spreadsheet to obtain a functional illustrative result. Based on the calculation result, I determined the number of gears and their dimensions. I do not want to publish the result so that the fun of tinkering is not too easy. If the machine is used in lessons, one can demonstrate the gear ratio, practice the application of the functions necessary for the calculation in mathematics classes, and implement the production of the machine in technical classes if a 3D printer is available!

To calculate the time of destruction, one must set an estimated value for the play between the gear wheels (2 degrees). Perhaps it can be measured precisely, but that is not my priority!

I bought the following motor:

Sharplace Professional DC 3V-12V Mini Geared Motor

at 3V the motor rotates 12 RPM

32.5 mm diameter

Hole spacing from center to center: 39 mm

As a power supply, I used a plug-in power adapter with 5V output voltage.

I used a toggle switch with a 20 mm diameter as the switch. The switch is not actually needed since it is an infinity machine. Nevertheless, it is reassuring when the motor noise occasionally stops.

If you color-mark the gears in their initial position, you can see the gear movements very well.

Illustrative model for physics lessons!

Have fun recreating it!