I recently designed and simulated a Galton Board using SOLIDWORKS Motion Study to replicate how random motion results in a normal distribution—a key concept in statistics and probability.
📌 What’s a Galton Board?
It’s a mechanical model that demonstrates the Central Limit Theorem. As balls drop through an array of staggered pegs, they bounce in random directions and accumulate in bins below, forming a bell-shaped curve.
🛠️ Technical Workflow:
- Modeled the full assembly in SOLIDWORKS: ~3000 individual balls
- Used Motion Study to simulate dynamic behavior
- Applied gravity, defined contact sets between balls, pegs, and bins
- Assigned appropriate material properties (rigid plastic) to control bounce and interaction
- Leveraged event-based motion for accurate stepwise movement
⚙️ Simulation Optimization:
Handling 3000+ dynamic contacts was computationally intensive. To overcome lag and long solve times:
- Enabled Large Assembly Mode.
- Suppressed unnecessary visual details.
- Reduced frame rate and increased solver step time for smoother results.
- Used contact groups instead of defining individual contacts.
- Used lightweight mode while opening the assembly.
📈 Results:
Despite random bouncing, the simulation converged to a Gaussian distribution—beautifully validating the physics and math behind the system.
🔍 This project helped reinforce:
✅ Contact-based dynamic simulation
✅ Large assembly optimization
✅ Integration of statistical theory in mechanical modeling
✅ Real-world system behavior through CAD tools
🎥 Video here:
🖼️ image of the normal distribution result:
3DXML Model:
💡 Always fascinating when physics, math, and CAD come together this well!
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