Pi Detector
Interactive Exhibit
Pi Detector was a temporary exhibit designed to celebrate Pi Day 2021 at the National Museum of Mathematics. It illustrates on a huge scale the relationships between the diameter and circumference of a circle as it relates to the value of pi. I designed and built it along with the Associate Director of National Museum of Mathematics Tim Nissen. Tim brought the concept and some basic sketches to me and I was tasked with designing, sourcing and fabricating the actual physical and mechanical components. This included a custom, heavy-duty wall mount to allow a 3 foot across, 50+ pound circle to rotate freely while 20 feet up in the air.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3c57b8de869f536c4047f66f736370b21cecd3d84be0c516e160d27a469fcc6c/IMG_0957.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29032e434247b93e63f870c0fdeb324e1018ef4ea420540f35d966edae4b6580/IMG_0956.jpg)
![One of my sketches of the rotational mechanism](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/727270bb3c5e484d7a54a1a0367b7736f2154e627665bf0e620d5e02eef22c69/IMG_0594.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/615eab55c935db776c77256770b717b24157d8b0a5b439e13baec22f40165cc1/pi-mount-render.gif)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae58ee4675072e16f133ac89b17e16a7093c4db13dc2ef243181ebc6040528a1/IMG_0791.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aec3a678875858a32581ad4f42adad7dc59bb922d8559b43d96770e130ed7acd/IMG_0925.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c6ba9ffd697f11b9284943495aca2da8a2ac0e49aeecde3cbfe6612c0755f825/IMG_0923.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b479d36302dcbc50aa7cfee2b50548b73ed10b9af7e2335c64fbbe18b2e4a7e/image.gif)