GearSketch
Learning and science
educational simulation
SHOW HN2013
201points
58comments
#73of 1,739 in 2013
Top 5%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 14 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 3 critical, out of 32 comments about the project. Thread score +0.26.
Idea: 6 for, 0 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 againstExecution: 1 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun and intuitive to use
From 3 comments
Love this! It's very intuitive and fun to draw gears of different sizes and hook them together. I'd love to be able to make more complex gears. I immediately tried to make a…
caseorganic on HNI have no real use for this, but that didn't stop me from playing with it for 30 minutes!
brbcoding on HNI've played a bit on my desktop browser and it's fun! Can't wait to show it to my kids. I've looked for similar things a long time ago and only found Java apps/applets. I like…
bockris on HN
Works well on touchscreens
From 2 comments
I just tried it on Chrome on desktop and it is usable. I think the touch just makes the experience better.
xutopia on HNVery good experience on the latest iPad. I wish there was a way to delete gears though. Also having the play button toggle pause/play would be nice.
milesokeefe on HN
Objections
Hard to use with a mouse or touchpad
From 4 comments
Great for touchscreen, but tricky with a mouse. I would like to see an option for drawing gears where mouse down sets the center of a new gear and dragging away determines the…
Sunlis on HNThis is cool but I'm learning quite quickly that I'm no good at drawing circles with my mouse, perhaps a bit more forgivness when using the gear drawing tool might make life a…
canthonytucci on HNImpossible to add the chains with a touchpad.
instakill on HNAgreed, and some controls that allow you to specify the radius of a gear instead of drawing it would help, too. I spent a long time trying to draw two gears with the same number…
hamburglar on HN
Chains are hard to add
From 2 comments
Impossible to add the chains with a touchpad.
instakill on HNSame problem on my Galaxy Nexus, I tried all combinations of placing a belt, and it just wouldn't work.
matthuggins on HN
Error on Chrome on Windows 7
From 1 comment
Uncaught TypeError: Type error - gearsketch_main.js:53 Am I the only one getting this? Chrome 28; Windows 7.
ne0phyte on HN
Requests
Draw gears by radius or diameter
From 3 comments
Great for touchscreen, but tricky with a mouse. I would like to see an option for drawing gears where mouse down sets the center of a new gear and dragging away determines the…
Sunlis on HNAgreed, and some controls that allow you to specify the radius of a gear instead of drawing it would help, too. I spent a long time trying to draw two gears with the same number…
hamburglar on HNWill probably send a pull request just to be able to draw gears by the diameter or radius instead of the perimeter. can't even draw a square with the clitmouse...
gcb0 on HN
Permalink or save and share configurations
From 2 comments
This is really cool! The ability to save a configuration and share it would be pretty cool, but as well as that, other objects such as sticks which are attached to gears would be…
basicallydan on HNPlease add a permalink feature.
tantalor on HN
Delete gears and pause/play toggle
From 1 comment
Very good experience on the latest iPad. I wish there was a way to delete gears though. Also having the play button toggle pause/play would be nice.
milesokeefe on HN
More gear types such as non-circular gears and involute teeth
From 2 comments
Really enjoy the different take on the interface.. feel like you might be missing something in having modality though, seems like you could combine the actions for drawing a gear…
nicpottier on HNVery fun! Ideas: - draw involute teeth forms - allow non circular gears - add other linkages - plot force (torque) and velocity (rotational velocity) against time or position…
yyao on HN
Rods and cams
From 2 comments
Rods and cams would be the next logical step.
tantalor on HNThis is really cool! The ability to save a configuration and share it would be pretty cool, but as well as that, other objects such as sticks which are attached to gears would be…
basicallydan on HN
Questions
Why canvas instead of SVG
From 1 comment
This is pretty neat. I've been doing a similar thing lately (rendering arbitrary-sized bicycle chainrings in SVG), so I have gears on the brain. I'm surprised this one uses…
neckro23 on HN
Is there a todo features list
From 1 comment
I've played a bit on my desktop browser and it's fun! Can't wait to show it to my kids. I've looked for similar things a long time ago and only found Java apps/applets. I like…
bockris on HN
Alternatives named
Java applets for gear simulation
From 1 comment
I've played a bit on my desktop browser and it's fun! Can't wait to show it to my kids. I've looked for similar things a long time ago and only found Java apps/applets. I like…
bockris on HN
Geometry construction puzzle app
From 1 comment
Absolutely what I was about to post. For a mouse user, mimicing the circle construction mechanics (with preview!) used in the geometry construction puzzle app that was linked a…
gknoy on HN
Arthur Ganson gear sculptures
From 2 comments
There's an art/science experiment piece on display at the Exploratium (unfortunately I can't remember what it's called) that has a similar construction. The gear at one end is…
cespare on HNreminds me of Arthur Ganson, artist who sometimes makes homemade gears. Has fun with gear ratios too (I think the machine with concrete will spin 1 revolution in 10000yrs if I…
acomjean on HN