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Energy transfer in initially excited dipole chains was studied using simple one-dimensional models. Two types of chains were studied:  the altitudinal dipole chain, in which all the dipoles rotate around the same axis, and the azimuthal dipole chain, in which the chain axis lies in the rotation planes of the dipoles. The analytic treatment of a pair of dipoles shows that energy transfer from dipole to dipole can only be complete for low excitations. At higher excitations, the excited dipole rotates too quickly for the second one to follow. Molecular dynamics simulations of 25-dipole chains show that energy transfer is possible in these chains. In some limiting cases, the energy transfer shows a soliton-like behavior. The altitudinal chain shows such behavior for low excitations, but for high excitations the rest of the chain cannot follow the excited dipole. In the azimuthal chain, the soliton-like behavior is more difficult to find:  Both for low and high excitations the system shows no noticeable energy transfer. Only for certain excitations with intermediate energy can a soliton-like transfer be observed.

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We use computational Langevin dynamics simulations to show that the orientation of the dipolar rotors in a one-dimensional chain can be controlled using a local field. Flipping the direction of the field initiates a process in which each of the chain dipoles may switch its orientation. We define the conditions for which the dipole chain remains in one of its two stable orientations. We observe the switching mechanism between these two stable orientations using a local electric field generated by a fixed control dipole, and the effectiveness of the switching process as a function of temperature, rotational friction coefficient, length of the array, and magnitude of the control dipole. We show two examples of curved chains where this process is possible as well. We model molecular dipolar rotors as point dipoles and show that we can transfer a signal along a one-dimensional chain. The propagated signal is not a photon, phonon, or charge, but is rather mechanical. One could argue that this is the smallest array of mechanical gears.