Mobile Observation Tower

This vertically rotating viewing platform was designed as part of a student scheme on the subject of balance. It functions noiselessly and is operated solely by the movements of the user, exploiting the force of gravity. The passenger stands in a circular cage mounted on a vertically pivoting arm with a counterweight at its opposite end. The arm is fixed at the top of a 9-metre mast. When the user moves in the direction of the mast, the lever arm is shortened and thus reduced in weight relative to the counterweight, so that the lookout cabin rises upwards. By moving away from the mast, the opposite effect is achieved. The prototype can reach a viewing height of 15 m. Further developments would allow a height of 40 m to be attained.