As part of his teaching and research activity at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Florence, Luca Salvatori (partner at Sphera Engineering and part-time Associate Professor) developed a didactic prototype of an Active Mass Damper (AMD) using LEGO® SPIKE™ Prime.
The project was financed by the Department and conceived for university students approaching structural dynamics and vibration control for the first time.

Although not developed as a Sphera Engineering commercial activity, the project reflects the company’s attitude toward innovation, experimentation, and technology-driven solutions, and we are pleased to showcase it here as part of the broader research culture shared by our team.

A small AMD, constructed entirely with LEGO components, is mounted on a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) oscillator. By commanding the motor to generate prescribed accelerations, the system produces a control force capable of reducing the structural response.

The contrast between uncontrolled oscillations and actively controlled motion is clearly visible.
When the AMD is engaged, the oscillation amplitude drops rapidly, mirroring the behaviour of full-scale active control devices.

Credits

• The collaboration of Andrea Sanesi (at the time a graduating student) is gratefully acknowledged.