I think it's basically a process of figuring out the equations you want, then how to "mechanize" them with gears, cams, and differentials. Then it is mechanical

I think it's basically a process of figuring out the equations you want, then how to "mechanize" them with gears, cams, and differentials. Then it is mechanical engineering to fit all the gears in a box. (The equations are generally much simpler than you'd implement in software, and you're not dealing with algorithms.) Another thing is that the Globus went through multiple revisions so the original didn't have as much functionality. So it's kind of like any project where you make the minimum viable product and then incrementally add features.