Talk:Gimbal

Expansion Request
I've requested that this article be expanded because it is overly focused on gyro-gimbal systems and their aerospace applications. Gimbals are extensively used for other purposes, and some discussion of those is totally appropriate and neccesary (an illustration would help too). I'd do it myself, but I'm pretty busy right now. -Lommer | talk 23:57, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I would like to see more on the gimbal lock problem. are there designs where this is not an issue? how bad is it? (it sounds very bad)


 * Not a problem aboard ship, it is a disaster on a space launch vehicle. It is avoided by use of a fourth gimbal. In one system, the fourth gimbal is used to maintain the outer and middle gimbals at right angles, deriving a drive signal from the angle between them. While this prevents gimbal lock, there is yet a problem called "gimbal flip". This occurs when the fourth gimbal reaches an indecision point -- should it drive clockwise or counterclockwise to maintain the outer and middle gimbals at right angles. This in turn is remedied by reversing the fourth gimbal drive when the indecision point is neared. Gimballed systems are obsolete, replaced by systems using strapdown (body mounted) sensors and computing orientation, and velocity digitally.


 * The article on Quaternions does little to explain their application to Inertial navigation and their relationship to direction cosines. Also missing is any mention of Euler's rotation theorem. 70.118.127.94 21:16, 7 August 2007 (UTC)


 * I have moved all the gimbal lock stuff to the dedicated gimbal lock page where people interested could get a better insight (at least I hope so). MathsPoetry (talk) 21:55, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

What is AS-XII
Exactly what is AS-XII? Is it supposed to be Apollo 13? The only references I can find to AS-XII are websites that are basically mirrors of Wikipedia. Jachim 04:39, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

History of Gimbals
Gimbals are known from Tang times (http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/china/xian/fa13.html) or earlier, when they were used in Buddhist incense burners. Need a good historian of technology to expand this article. Gunth1u 02:57, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

In the preamble it is written that no one person is identified as the inventor of the gimbal. However, in the History section, a defined person is claimed to be the inventor. Putje81 (talk) 09:27, 30 January 2012 (UTC)]


 * Probably should say instead "The first known description of the gimbal was by..." or something similar. The references need to be checked first to establish exactly what they say.  Spinning  Spark  13:12, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Animated image
We should incorprate an animated image such as this one:Image:Gyroscope operation.gif into the page to help illustrate the idea better. Jesse Crouch (talk) 20:54, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

hey the material is not sufficient....some animation should be provided too.

There is one on the Norwegian page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.69.119.202 (talk) 00:19, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Ethymology
Where does the word gimbal come from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.69.119.202 (talk) 00:24, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * From Latin "gemellus" (twin-like, Diminutive of geminus), to old French "jumel" and as a variant of late Middle English "gemel" and "gimmal" (twin, hinge, finger ring which can be divided into two rings) to late 16th century "gimbal" (a plural denoting connecting parts in machinery).--89.144.223.185 (talk) 13:44, 13 March 2018 (UTC)
 * See Jabberwocky -Wikipedia article for 1871 use of "gymbal" as a verb Jrgetsin (talk) 13:45, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

heart gimbals
Not a physicist. Believe heart lives in gimbals with many unique physiologic tethers. What does NASA have on this that can be imported to Wikipedia for an interesting encyclopedic article? --lbeben 01:35, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Gimbal lock
I have rewritten the Gimbal lock page.

I have moved the material related to the gimbal lock problem from the Gimbal page to the Gimbal lock page. So, my apologies for having "stolen" some material from this page. But I think that at the end everything is clearer. Especially that some solutions for the gimbal lock problems in inertial navigation were absent from the original text.

Also, the current explanation of the gimbal lock was wrongly placed in the "aerospace" section. A gimbal lock can occur on a submarine too AFAIK, so I have merged "marine" and "aerospace" paragraphs here.

MathsPoetry (talk) 21:46, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Picavet cross
Name the Picavet under References? See [] it stabilizes the mount of a camera horizontally, while the tethering line of a kite or balloon may move and change its angle. --Helium4 (talk) 13:44, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

History
The intro of this article mentions "Cardan suspension" but totally fails to describe its meaning/significance in the article body, leaving a big "huh?" for the reader. Needs work. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 16:03, 21 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Done.  Spinning Spark  11:59, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Topic Animated Graphic
I believe the animated graphic in the top right corner of this page represents a three-axis gimbal, not the "Illustration of a simple two-axis gimbal set; the center ring can be vertically fixed" labeled. If the center right were vertically fixed, then it should be a two-axis gimbal. 199.115.189.190 (talk) 19:50, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

Largest gimbal?
Is there a way (or need) to mention the largest gimbal yet constructed, which had 2-meter bearings and was mounted on the GloMar Explorer in the 70s to support the Clementine recovery claw and the Russian submarine K-129 (more than 20,000 tons total? It is described by several of the engineers who designed & used it in the documentary "Azorian: The Raising of the K-129" (2010). Steve8394 (talk) 00:02, 5 October 2021 (UTC)