page_title: Gimbal lock
hierarchical_section_title: Gimbal lock
caption_attribution_description: Single frame of gyroscope animation, showing 4-axis aligned, still exhibiting gimbal lock problem.
context_page_description: Gimbal lock is the loss of one degree of freedom in a three-dimensional, three-gimbal mechanism that occurs when the axes of two of the three gimbals are driven into a parallel configuration, "locking" the system into rotation in a degenerate two-dimensional space.
  The word lock is misleading: no gimbal is restrained. All three gimbals can still rotate freely about their respective axes of suspension. Nevertheless, because of the parallel orientation of two of the gimbals' axes there is no gimbal available to accommodate rotation about one axis.
context_section_description: Gimbal lock is the loss of one degree of freedom in a three-dimensional, three-gimbal mechanism that occurs when the axes of two of the three gimbals are driven into a parallel configuration, "locking" the system into rotation in a degenerate two-dimensional space.
  The word lock is misleading: no gimbal is restrained. All three gimbals can still rotate freely about their respective axes of suspension. Nevertheless, because of the parallel orientation of two of the gimbals' axes there is no gimbal available to accommodate rotation about one axis.
caption: Adding a fourth rotational axis can solve the problem of gimbal lock, but it requires the outermost ring to be actively driven so that it stays 90 degrees out of alignment with the innermost axis (the flywheel shaft). Without active driving of the outermost ring, all four axes can become aligned in a plane as shown above, again leading to gimbal lock and inability to roll.
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