An Electrical Engineering View of a Mechanical Watch (2003) [video]
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
techtv.mit.eduTechstory
calmpositive
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Mechanical WatchesElectrical EngineeringMit Lectures
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Mechanical Watches
Electrical Engineering
Mit Lectures
A 2003 MIT lecture on the electrical engineering aspects of mechanical watches is shared, sparking discussion on related resources and the intersection of mechanical and electrical engineering.
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Oct 6, 2025 at 6:46 AM EDT
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Oct 15, 2025 at 7:35 PM EDT
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Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
But yeah, great to see OCW still going strong. It's pretty remarkable no administrator has tried to mess with it -- although I wouldn't know if they had.
they did censor (i.e. delete) physics professor walter lewin's popular physics videos because at some very advanced age he was still making known his interest in coeds (or something like that) and, rather than celebrate his robust health and appetites, they decided to unperson him.
https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/
Prof. Malcolm C. Smith had an electrical circuit and made its mechanical equivalent. His invention (the inerter) gave the F1's McLaren team an advantage in 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhmLb2DhNYM
It doesn't have the explanations or the math, but the cameras are high quality and you can really see just how jiggly the balance wheel and spring are, and how the watch will just "spring to life" when you install those bits.