Let's use 3D animation to go inside the Enigma Machine!
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Thanks to the Dan Perera for his help creating this animation.
His website: www.EnigmaMuseum.org
This video has been dubbed into a few different languages. You can change the audio track language in the Settings menu.
Further reading on a some things that I couldn't include in the video:
-Changes/improvements to the Enigma Machine: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine#Models)
-The number of possible enigma settings is 10^23 (https://ciphermachines.com/enigma)
-How the machine was broken by the allies: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptanalysis_of_the_Enigma)
-The bombe machine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe)
-Alan Turing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing)
-Breaking of Enigma was classified until the 1970s (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/spies/ciphers/enigma/default.htm)
📼Video Summary:
The Enigma Machine was used during WWII by the German Army to get keep messages encrypted. It looks almost like a typewriter. There are 26 keys and 26 letters that can light up. These lights tell you how the keys will be scrambled up. The machine works like an electrical circuit. The rotors towards the back of the machine do most of the scrambling by mixing up the wiring. The plugboard in the front also another layer of encryption. Keyboard mechanism connects or disconnects the circuit to turn on a lightbulb. The path of the wire is difficult to follow so I recommend following it through in 3D! Each time a key is released - the rotors in the back will turn. This is done by the mechanism which includes the actuator bar, ratchet, pawl, and the index wheels.