From “how does that work?”
to something you can touch.

See what makes the world move.

The homepage now opens with a live cutaway jet and six original mechanism previews. The reveal slider, airflow and continuous combustion use the same renderer as the story. The jet’s swept blades, inlet lip and shell details are generated from editable Blender sources.

We corrected an overly recessed fan, reduced harsh reflections, and replaced the first patterned flame with a phase-driven noise field. This is still an illustrative teaching model, not a combustion solver. The new collection route and legacy engine links share the existing player.

A hidden stitch. A river of air. A tiny rhythm.

Three original Blender assemblies extend the same player: an oscillating-hook sewing machine, a two-spool turbofan, and a hand-wound watch. Their experiments change stitch spacing, bypass mass-flow shares, and ideal balance frequency.

The loop, flow traces and escapement reconstruct from phase, including backward scrubbing. Separate model files keep each exhibit from downloading the other assemblies. Each story includes its technical reference and the limits of its teaching model.

Make the invisible part visible.

The second pass replaces the simple geometry with original Blender parts: piston rings, a shaped rod, counterweights, cutaway passages, valve springs, and a spark plug. The editable sources and export script are in the repository. Gears and the differential share the same materials and studio lighting.

Intake traces, an ignition arc, a flame front, and exhaust now follow the same crank angle as the machinery. Scrub backward and the exact effect returns. We corrected a shader-uniform update that initially left the chamber in its intake color; a believable image still needs a check against each cycle state.

Scroll chooses the explanation and camera. Playback owns the mechanism’s clock. These are separate so scrolling cannot accidentally reverse the engine.

One player. Six ways to wonder.

We separated explanations, calculations, and 3D geometry. The small gear exhibit defines a contributor starting point; the differential exercises the same interface with different controls and relationships.

Astra helped write the TypeScript, build procedural geometry, author original scripts, and review the equations against references. Each exhibit includes its assumptions so a smooth animation cannot silently claim more than it calculates.

A moving engine is not a dynamics simulation.

The crank angle drives the piston position. That makes scrubbing deterministic, but it does not calculate combustion pressure or flywheel acceleration. We made this distinction explicit and removed unsupported power or efficiency numbers from the design.

The implementation also had to keep exploded-view offsets separate from the rod’s fixed-length geometry. Moving a cosmetic housing must not rewrite the mechanism underneath.

Test the relationships. Then ask people.

Automated checks cover the 720° cycle, connecting-rod length, valve synchronization, gear ratios, and differential mean speed. Browser checks cover the controls and layout. Independent technical review, ten observed beginner sessions, and a contributor setup test still require people.