Senior engineering students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have recreated an ancient Roman odometer, according to an announcement on April 22. The device, built as part of the university’s ancient practices program led by Ken Anderson, professor in geology and director of the Advanced Energy Institute, will be demonstrated on April 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room A131 of the Engineering building.
The project gives students hands-on experience with historical technology and insight into how engineers in the past solved problems without modern tools. Anderson said these projects show that not every problem requires advanced technology. “The Romans built an enormous empire with a sophisticated highway system, and they needed a means to measure distances reliably,” Anderson said. “They didn’t have access to technology like GPS, so they solved the problem by applying the tools they had in ingenious ways, by designing and building devices like what these students have built, that still got the job done. That’s an important lesson — not every problem requires an expensive technological solution.”
Garrett Zeller served as project manager for this year’s team effort. He said working from historical drawings was especially interesting: “I have always been interested in history so getting the opportunity to make a design based off of historical drawings like this was very interesting to experience,” Zeller said. He added that their research did not find any cited recreations of the models used as references.
Students began by researching and analyzing ancient designs before using computer-aided design software for digital modeling and selecting their final approach. The reconstructed odometer uses wooden gears attached to a cart axle; after a set number of rotations, each gear drops a pebble into a bucket for distance measurement.
Aaron Wellinghoff described challenges with constructing the gear train: “Ensuring proper alignment and smooth operation required careful planning, precise measurements, and multiple adjustments,” he said.
Testing showed high accuracy for their device; Weston Jokerst noted: “Every time we crossed a 100-meter mark out at the track, we heard our odometer drop a marble… We were ecstatic.” The team achieved only a 0.19% error over one mile—well within their planned margin.
Joshua Farmer reflected on lessons learned from teamwork during this project: “I will be sure to regularly communicate with team members on future projects and meet timelines as required for a project’s success,” Farmer said.
