Harmonograph

A mechanical drawing machine that encourages interaction with math. 

Math seems inaccessible to many, who dub it either too difficult or too dry to engage with. I wanted to create an entrance point for people who feel disconnected from the math that guides the world around us. 

I realized this wasn’t an entirely novel idea. Peering into the rich history of interactive math machines, I found the harmonograph. 

The harmonograph is a simple mechanical machine that uses the harmonic motion of pendulums to draw mathematical patterns.

Drawing from the designs of other harmonographs, I built my own. I set it up in a public area on campus to allow people to interact with the machine, drawing their own patterns.