The oscillations are no longer simple harmonic motion when it is released from a large angle. The pendulum's pivot point can be set at different positions, and two masses can be attached to change the ...

The name "pendulum impact tester" is self-explanatory for the operation of the machine. A lifted mass has potential energy. This is converted to kinetic energy by the mass being exposed to a free fall ...

Not to be discouraged, [Nicholas] simply added another IMU board to the bottom of the pendulum, and kept the joystick mechanism as a pivot only. And, as you can see from the video after the break ...