Geneva "Snowflake" Drive

thingiverse

This geneva drive was created specifically for the BlocksCAD Snowflake challenge (#BlocksCADSnowflake). Its design resembles that of a snowflake, allowing it to rotate 60° with just one rotation of its outer wheel. Since snowflakes are inherently hexagonal due to their molecular structure, which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, this unique property inspired the drive's design. A geneva drive features an inner wheel connected to an outer wheel by a pin, where the outer wheel's rotation causes the inner one to turn in discrete degrees determined by its shape. Unlike the continuous rotation of the outer wheel, the inner wheel rotates in a non-continuous manner. This mechanism has been used in old film projectors to display pictures at a predetermined pace.