diff --git a/docs/src/examples/pendulum.md b/docs/src/examples/pendulum.md
index 69f14aa7..f13e873b 100644
--- a/docs/src/examples/pendulum.md
+++ b/docs/src/examples/pendulum.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Unless otherwise specified, the world defaults to having a gravitational field p
 
 
 ## Modeling the pendulum
-Our simple pendulum will initially consist of a [`Body`](@ref) (point mass) and a [`Revolute`](@ref) joint (the pivot joint). We construct these elements by calling their constructors
+Our simple pendulum will initially consist of a [`Body`](@ref) (point mass with inertial properties) and a [`Revolute`](@ref) joint (the pivot joint). We construct these elements by calling their constructors
 ```@example pendulum
 @named joint = Revolute(n = [0, 0, 1], isroot = true)
 @named body = Body(; m = 1, isroot = false, r_cm = [0.5, 0, 0])
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ The figure above should look identical to the simulation of the mass-spring-damp
 ## Going 3D
 The systems we have modeled so far have all been _planar_ mechanisms. We now extend this to a 3-dimensional system, the [_Furuta pendulum_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furuta_pendulum).
 
-This pendulum, sometimes referred to as a _rotary pendulum_, has two joints, one in the "shoulder", which is typically configured to rotate around the gravitational axis, and one in the "elbow", which is typically configured to rotate around the axis of the upper arm. The upper arm is attached to the shoulder joint, and the lower arm is attached to the elbow joint. The tip of the pendulum is attached to the lower arm.
+This pendulum, sometimes referred to as a _rotary pendulum_, has two joints, one in the "shoulder", which is typically configured to rotate around the gravitational axis, and one in the "elbow", which is typically configured to rotate around the axis of the upper arm. The upper arm is attached to the shoulder joint, and the lower arm is attached to the elbow joint. The tip of the pendulum is attached to the lower arm. The arms are modeled using [`BodyCylinder`](@ref) components, these components automatically compute the inertial properties of the body given the geometry and density of the material (which defaults to the density 7700 kg/m³ of steel).
 
 ```@example pendulum
 using ModelingToolkit, Multibody, JuliaSimCompiler, OrdinaryDiffEq, Plots
@@ -186,14 +186,14 @@ W(args...; kwargs...) = Multibody.world
 @mtkmodel FurutaPendulum begin
     @components begin
         world = W()
-        shoulder_joint = Revolute(n = [0, 1, 0], axisflange = true)
-        elbow_joint    = Revolute(n = [0, 0, 1], axisflange = true, phi0=0.1)
-        upper_arm = BodyShape(; m = 0.1, r = [0, 0, 0.6], radius=0.04)
-        lower_arm = BodyShape(; m = 0.1, r = [0, 0.6, 0], radius=0.04)
-        tip = Body(; m = 0.3)
-
-        damper1 = RDamper(d = 0.07)
-        damper2 = RDamper(d = 0.07)
+        shoulder_joint = Revolute(n = [0, 1, 0], axisflange = true, radius=0.007)
+        elbow_joint    = Revolute(n = [0, 0, 1], axisflange = true, phi0=0.1, radius=0.007)
+        upper_arm = BodyCylinder(; r = [0, 0, 0.12], diameter=0.01)
+        lower_arm = BodyCylinder(; r = [0, 0.12, 0], diameter=0.01)
+        tip = Body(; m = 0.1, radius=0.01)
+
+        damper1 = RDamper(d = 0.002)
+        damper2 = RDamper(d = 0.002)
     end
     @equations begin
         connect(world.frame_b, shoulder_joint.frame_a)
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ end
 model = complete(model)
 ssys = structural_simplify(IRSystem(model))
 
-prob = ODEProblem(ssys, [model.shoulder_joint.phi => 0.0, model.elbow_joint.phi => 0.1], (0, 10))
+prob = ODEProblem(ssys, [model.shoulder_joint.phi => 0.0, model.elbow_joint.phi => 0.1, model.world.radius =>0.001, model.world.length => 0.06], (0, 10))
 sol = solve(prob, Rodas4())
 plot(sol, layout=4)
 ```
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ plot(sol, layout=4)
 In the animation below, we visualize the path that the origin of the pendulum tip traces by providing the tip frame in a vector of frames passed to `traces`
 ```@example pendulum
 import GLMakie
-Multibody.render(model, sol, filename = "furuta.gif", traces=[model.tip.frame_a])
+Multibody.render(model, sol, x=0.3, y=0.2, z=0.3, filename = "furuta.gif", traces=[model.tip.frame_a])
 nothing # hide
 ```
 ![furuta](furuta.gif)
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ sol(1, idxs=model.shoulder_joint.phi)
 
 Here, we made use of the function [`get_rot`](@ref), we will now make use of also [`get_trans`](@ref) and [`get_frame`](@ref).
 
-The next body is the upper arm. This body has an extent of `0.6` in the $z$ direction, as measured in its local `frame_a`
+The next body is the upper arm. This body has an extent of `0.12` in the $z$ direction, as measured in its local `frame_a`
 ```@example pendulum
 get_trans(sol, model.upper_arm.frame_b, 0)
 ```
@@ -305,3 +305,7 @@ r_A = [r_A; 1] # Homogeneous coordinates
 get_frame(sol, model.lower_arm.frame_a, 12)*r_A
 ```
 the vector is now coinciding with `get_trans(sol, model.lower_arm.frame_b, 12)`.
+
+
+## Summary
+We have demonstrated how to model different kinds of pendula, starting with the simplest version where the tip of the pendulum was modeled using a [`Body`](@ref), and the rod was modeled using a [`FixedTranslation`](@ref), to a 3D rotary Furuta pendulum where the rods were modeled as [`BodyShape`](@ref) components. Whether to use the massless [`FixedTranslation`](@ref) or a component with inertial properties like [`BodyShape`](@ref) to model the rod depends the requirements of the application. The computation of inertial properties during simulation incurs some additional computational expense, but may be necessary to model the dynamics of the system accurately. [`FixedTranslation`](@ref) components, and the related [`FixedOrientation`](@ref), are often used to describe rigid relations between coordinate frames in simulations where the inertial properties of the components are modeled using other components, e.g., when rigidly attaching components at a particular location on another body.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ext/Render.jl b/ext/Render.jl
index 70991608..e2e7d216 100644
--- a/ext/Render.jl
+++ b/ext/Render.jl
@@ -283,26 +283,27 @@ end
 
 function render!(scene, ::typeof(World), sys, sol, t)
     sol(sol.t[1], idxs=sys.render)==true || return true # yes, == true
-    radius = 0.01f0
+    radius = sol(sol.t[1], idxs=sys.radius) |> Float32
+    length = sol(sol.t[1], idxs=sys.length) |> Float32
     r_0 = get_fun(sol, collect(sys.frame_b.r_0))
 
     thing = @lift begin
         O = Point3f(r_0($t)) # Assume world is never moving
-        x = O .+ Point3f(1,0,0)
+        x = O .+ Point3f(length,0,0)
         Makie.GeometryBasics.Cylinder(O, x, radius)
     end
     mesh!(scene, thing, color=:red)
 
     thing = @lift begin
         O = Point3f(r_0($t))
-        y = O .+ Point3f(0,1,0)
+        y = O .+ Point3f(0,length,0)
         Makie.GeometryBasics.Cylinder(O, y, radius)
     end
     mesh!(scene, thing, color=:green)
 
     thing = @lift begin
         O = Point3f(r_0($t))
-        z = O .+ Point3f(0,0,1)
+        z = O .+ Point3f(0,0,length)
         Makie.GeometryBasics.Cylinder(O, z, radius)
     end
     mesh!(scene, thing, color=:blue)
diff --git a/src/components.jl b/src/components.jl
index f23b25ab..e233f2ed 100644
--- a/src/components.jl
+++ b/src/components.jl
@@ -49,12 +49,15 @@ end
     @parameters mu=3.986004418e14 [description = "Gravity field constant [m³/s²] (default = field constant of earth)"]
     @parameters render=render
     @parameters point_gravity = point_gravity
+    @parameters radius = 0.01f0
+    @parameters length = 1
+    
     O = ori(frame_b)
     eqs = Equation[collect(frame_b.r_0) .~ 0;
                    O ~ nullrotation()
                    # vec(D(O).R .~ 0); # QUESTION: not sure if I should have to add this, should only have 12 equations according to modelica paper
                    ]
-    ODESystem(eqs, t, [], [n; g; mu; point_gravity; render]; name, systems = [frame_b])
+    ODESystem(eqs, t, [], [n; g; mu; point_gravity; render; radius; length]; name, systems = [frame_b])
 end
 
 """
@@ -578,6 +581,26 @@ end
 # end
 
 
+"""
+    BodyCylinder(; name, m = 1, r = [0.1, 0, 0], r_shape = [0, 0, 0], dir = r - r_shape, length = _norm(r - r_shape), diameter = 1, inner_diameter = 0, density = 7700, color = purple)
+
+Rigid body with cylinder shape. The mass properties of the body (mass, center of mass, inertia tensor) are computed from the cylinder data. Optionally, the cylinder may be hollow. The two connector frames `frame_a` and `frame_b` are always parallel to each other.
+
+# Parameters
+- `r`: (Structural parameter) Vector from `frame_a` to `frame_b` resolved in `frame_a`
+- `r_shape`: (Structural parameter) Vector from `frame_a` to cylinder origin, resolved in `frame_a`
+- `dir`: Vector in length direction of cylinder, resolved in `frame_a`
+- `length`: Length of cylinder
+- `diameter`: Diameter of cylinder
+- `inner_diameter`: Inner diameter of cylinder (0 <= inner_diameter <= diameter)
+- `density`: Density of cylinder [kg/m³] (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)
+- `color`: Color of cylinder in animations
+
+# Variables
+- `r_0`: Position vector from origin of world frame to origin of `frame_a`
+- `v_0`: Absolute velocity of `frame_a`, resolved in world frame (= D(r_0))
+- `a_0`: Absolute acceleration of `frame_a` resolved in world frame (= D(v_0))
+"""
 @mtkmodel BodyCylinder begin
 
     @structural_parameters begin
@@ -610,7 +633,7 @@ end
             description = "Inner diameter of cylinder (0 <= inner_diameter <= diameter)",
         ]
         density = 7700, [
-            description = "Density of cylinder (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)",
+            description = "Density of cylinder [kg/m³] (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)",
         ]
         color[1:4] = purple, [description = "Color of cylinder in animations"]
     end
@@ -680,7 +703,7 @@ Rigid body with box shape. The mass properties of the body (mass, center of mass
 - `height = width`: Height of box
 - `inner_width`: Width of inner box surface (0 <= inner_width <= width)
 - `inner_height`: Height of inner box surface (0 <= inner_height <= height)
-- `density = 7700`: Density of cylinder (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)
+- `density = 7700`: Density of box [kg/m³] (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)
 - `color`: Color of box in animations
 """
 @mtkmodel BodyBox begin
@@ -737,7 +760,7 @@ Rigid body with box shape. The mass properties of the body (mass, center of mass
             description = "Height of inner box surface (0 <= inner_height <= height)",
         ]
         density = 7700, [
-            description = "Density of cylinder (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)",
+            description = "Density of cylinder [kg/m³] (e.g., steel: 7700 .. 7900, wood : 400 .. 800)",
         ]
         color[1:4] = purple, [description = "Color of box in animations"]
     end