A Gentleman’s Orrery is a minimalist mechanical reproduction of the solar system created by Frans de War, and is described as “elegant, anachronistic, and full of mischief”
The orrery operates using a stepper motor, driving planetary movement with a 0.8mm axle nested inside a 1mm brass tube, aided by a couple of bevel gears to rotate the moon and planets in their orbits.
Most of the movement relies on clever design rather than gear cascades, and the real wizardry is the 3D-printed chassis that holds an ESP32-C6, a TTP223 capacitive touch module, an STSPIN220 driver and a reed switch for charging.
The orrery can be built at home, and de War also provides instructions for making a stone shell version with a stone sphere acting as the touch control.
