Abstract: A variable motion device displaying interactive rocking and rotating motion and having a geometrically eccentric center of mass, The device is supported upon a teetering surface bearing against a corresponding counterteetering surface, At least one of these surfaces is curved, so that the device wobbles. These features, which are concealed from an observer, cause compound or unpredictable precession in response to the device being rocked or similarly moved by a rider. Further ride altering effects are produced by powered pushing or pulling devices. In another alternative embodiment, initial Potation is produced by a powered source. The device, which finds its best application as an amusement ride, accommodates one or more riders.

Abstract: Disclosed is a self-reversing pendular-top formed as a symmetrical solid body of hard rigid material such as acrylic, the configuration being such that the center of gravity is oscillated relative to the geometric center of the pendular-top. The center of gravity may be further displaced from the geometric center by increasing the frequency with the symmetrical addition of counterweights at each end of the device. When rotated counter-clockwise on a smooth surface, the pendular-top will eventually stop rotating, and thereafter, without further input of energy will start to rotate in the reverse direction (clockwise). Similarly, when the pendular-top is oscillated end-to-end or side-to-side, the oscillations will eventually be converted, without further input of energy, into a rotational spin about the vertical axis, which is clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively.