Rugescu R.

Design and basic manufacturing technology, supplemented by a computational model of a gravitational oscillator in the Moon-Earth-Sun unsteady gravitational field is presented, as an experimental means for further investigation of the Allais-Jeverdan eclipse effect. Preliminary computations show that the scalar, inverse square-low model of the gravity does not explain the eclipse effect and innovative investigations in the theory are required, sustained by refined experiments. A dramatically enhanced, high accuracy monitoring system for a terrestrial Foucault pendulum trajectory tracking is proposed, based on a digitising platform that allows an autonomous, continuous tracking of the oscillator motion through a non-intrusive, laser sensing equipment. This instrumentation is accommodated into a medium sized truss-type structure, supporting the main gravity oscillator at the same time. To be used as an experimental set-up on the Moon, where the Allais effect should manifest considerably stronger, a lightweight, thin bars, self-deployable truss construction is proposed. The intrinsic drawback of the lightweight solution is its poor stiffness that may introduce perturbing vibrational behaviour during the pendulum motion. The stiffness response of the structure at specific manufacturing technology solutions is debated, with observations for the optimisation of the proposed oscillator.