Rigid Rotors

Professor Fisher wrote a simulation that you can use to visualize rigid rotations. This is a great way to test out what different principle moments of inertia and different starting points will do to motion.

Here is how you can start using the simulation:

  1. Install Python on your computer. There are many ways to do this, but I like to use Anaconda. It’s a code environment manager that will also install many useful programs such as Jupyter notebooks. You can find the Anaconda installation and directions here: https://www.anaconda.com/download

Use the Anaconda Distribution for python. I have no idea what Kilo Desktop for AI is, and I don’t want to.

  1. Download the simulation from Professor Fisher’s github page. Near the top of the page there is a green button that says “code”. Click on that button and select “Download ZIP.” Then unzip that folder somewhere you can find it easily on your computer.

  2. Open the README.md file in a text editor. This has all the instructions for using the simulation.

  3. To run, open a terminal (or window’s command) window. Navigate to the folder holding the simulation files by typing in cd your-filepath. Then you can run the python commands detailed in the README.