A Friction Driven Oscillator

 

 
  A friction driven oscillator: A solid bar is supported by two wheels that move in opposite directions. The resulting movement of the bar is the difference between two friction transverse forces.  The resultant confines the bar roughly to the middle of the system.  
 
A video camera detects the edge of the solid bar.  The position of the edge is detected and recorded.
 
 
A view of the friction experiment from above: A pancake motor in the middle powers the two wheels through a set of gears and speed reducers. The speed of the motor can be adjusted using the controller at the left-bottom corner.
 
 
A side view of the experiment: Two red wheels  drive the bar's movement back and forth. Data on this experiment will be posted in our preprints under "friction driven oscillator".
 
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