Wostep Training
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Overview
Type : Professional
Technology : Unity
Platforms : Web, PC, Mac
Introduciton
The WOSTEP Foundation, an autonomous training center supported by Swiss watch industry members, provides globally recognized training programs and consultancy services known for their high-quality standards. Among its offerings are didactic models designed to facilitate comprehension of watchmaking mechanisms, including the escapement model.
The escapement constitutes a foundational mechanism within mechanical timepieces, responsible for controlling the consistent release of energy stored in the mainspring. Positioned between the energy source (such as a spring or weight) and the resonator (like a pendulum or balance-spring), this device governs the pace at which the spring unwinds. It continuously transmits this energy to the gear train, ensuring the watch hands move with precise and steady speed. Notably, it produces the distinctive audible ‘ticking’ (tic-tac) sound characteristic of these mechanical systems.
Projet
The project aimed to replicate the escapement movement and transform it into an interactive application to complement the existing physical models for educational purposes.
The application’s primary objective was to emulate the movement’s functionality realistically and accurately within the bounds of physics. Alongside simulating the movement itself, it needed to allow users to manipulate components using a mouse, adjusting values to customize the movement’s behavior.
Here is the application in action in simulation mode.
Users have control over the pendulum’s amplitude and rotational speed, can manipulate the plate pin (highlighted in red) with the mouse, adjust the paddles’ (also in red) positions to configure the escapement, and activate or deactivate the escapement wheel spring.
Achieving authentic collisions posed a significant challenge. As the movement’s parts possess intricate shapes, using a mesh collider to match each model became problematic due to their convex nature, leading to collision and performance issues. Instead, I utilized several primitive colliders to model the escapement’s collision mechanisms.
For a more precise simulation, a different physics engine beyond Unity’s would be necessary. However, the current application strikes a well-balanced compromise between Unity’s limitations and achieving realism.
The application has been exported for the web using a WebGL version and is available as desktop versions for both Windows and Mac platforms.