A Ball-and-Bearing Inertial Sensor or Angular Motion Detector (Updated three months ago)

You can view this bundle in the SFSU Over the Years collection area.

A gimbal-mounted sensor system or ball-type inertial feedback device—possibly designed to simulate:Angular momentum, Pitch, roll, or yaw sensing or to act as a control interface responding to subtle directional movements.

Tags: historic technology

Added to SFSU Over the Years on July 31, 2026.

Related Items

Rear View of Master Control Panel Wiring, San Francisco State College (Alternate View) Students and Faculty Working Through a Real-World Engineering Simulation Hanging Plan and Drawing Storage Cabinet, Fall 1965 Script Production Machine Used for Student Television Classes, Fall 1965 Student Operating Portable Reel-to-Reel Recorder, Fall 1965

Information

  • Identifier: TP-ATA-1876
  • Context: <h5 data-start="1467" data-end="1521"><strong data-start="1474" data-end="1521">Likely Use in the Flight Simulator Context:</strong></h5> <ul data-start="1522" data-end="1917"> <li data-start="1522" data-end="1679"> <p data-start="1524" data-end="1679"><strong data-start="1524" data-end="1539">As a sensor</strong>: It may simulate how a spacecraft or aircraft responds to changes in angular position&mdash;especially in a &ldquo;free-floating&rdquo; or lunar environment.</p> </li> <li data-start="1680" data-end="1815"> <p data-start="1682" data-end="1815"><strong data-start="1682" data-end="1705">As a feedback input</strong>: It could detect motion of a model or simulated "pilot mass" and feed that data back into the control system.</p> </li> <li data-start="1816" data-end="1917"> <p data-start="1818" data-end="1917"><strong data-start="1818" data-end="1846">As an inertial demo tool</strong>: For teaching students about gyroscopic principles and motion physics.</p> </li> </ul> <h5 data-start="1924" data-end="1959"><strong data-start="1932" data-end="1959">Design Characteristics:</strong></h5> <ul data-start="1960" data-end="2209"> <li data-start="1960" data-end="2025"> <p data-start="1962" data-end="2025">Transparent acrylic enclosure: for <strong data-start="1997" data-end="2025">observation and teaching</strong></p> </li> <li data-start="2026" data-end="2115"> <p data-start="2028" data-end="2115">High-quality machined components: typical of <strong data-start="2073" data-end="2115">mid-20th century engineering education</strong></p> </li> <li data-start="2116" data-end="2209"> <p data-start="2118" data-end="2209">Wiring and analog interfacing: consistent with <strong data-start="2165" data-end="2209">1960s&ndash;early 70s instructional simulators</strong></p> </li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Credits:</strong>&nbsp;</p> <p>Some technical descriptions and historical interpretations were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.</p>
  • Geographic Coverage: San Francisco, CA
  • Type: Still Image
  • Format: Negative
  • Source: San Francisco State University Archives
  • Rights: Public

Content

Statistics

  • Views: 640 (126 for this version)

Version history

Import from CMS.
Update by DIVA Digitization Team three months ago
Import from CMS.
Update by DIVA Digitization Team a year ago
Import from CMS.
Update by DIVA Digitization Team a year ago