This mechanical watch shows the moving of the planets around the sun in miniature

Check out this unbelievable watch -- The magnificent Complication Poétique Midnight Planétarium -- which displays a tiny model of the solar system on your wrist. The watch shows representations of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The version without the diamonds will set you back $274,613 in U.S. dollars. The one with diamond is about $366,101!

An article on the watch may be viewed here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2548017/Forget-smartwatches-wear-150-000-PLANETARIUM-wrist.html#ixzz3VsKzrlM3

To learn more about this fascinating craft, I recommend Watchmaking by George Daniels. The book follows the making of the precision timekeeper, step by step, and is illustrated at each stage with line drawings and brief explanatory captions. The text is easy to follow and to not overly technical.

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Gear generator tool allows you to design full gear trains and see them in action!

This new online Gear Generator tool can be used to simulate sets of spur gears. You can plug in all kinds of a parameters, and then animate the gears at various speed to demonstrate working mechanism. You can also download the final results in SVG format. The tool allows you compose full gear layouts with connected gears to design multiple gears system with control of the input/output ratio and rotation speed. The gears are of the involute type which is what most of the world wants -- except perhaps for the clockmakers. This tool is fantastically useful and very well designed too!

Here is where you can check out and use the free online Gear Generator tool.

To learn more about gear design, check out these great reference books such as Dudley's Handbook of Practical Gear Design and Manufacture, which provides comprehensive information on the design and manufacture of gears for the expert and novice alike. Topics include: Gear Types and Nomenclature, Gear Tooth Design, Gear Reactions and Mountings, Gear Vibration, and The Evolution of the Gear Art.

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BusyBody - pose and animate a little figure in minutes!

Rufus Seder of Eye Think has just come up with this wonderful animation toy! You pose ten identical bendy figures a little differently in sequence. Then, when you spin the turntable you will see the results animated in the mirror rotating at the center of the toy. What a fun gizmo!

Here is where you can get the BusyBody Quick Pose Animator.

If you are into this type of animation, you might also check out this Praxinoscope available from Amazon. Not unlike the BusyBody, this optical device uses mirrors, paper, and a platform to create moving pictures. When you spin the platform, you can view the animations through the mask plate. It includes printed discs and blank discs for creating your own animation.

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Japanese Automata - Karkuri Zui: An Eighteenth Century Japanese Manual of Automatic Mechanical Devices

There is a wonderful new book out titled Japanese Automata - Karkuri Zui: An Eighteenth Century Japanese Manual of Automatic Mechanical Devices. This book by Kazuo Murakami translates into English the unique book Karakuri Zui, originally published in 1796. The book starts with an introduction which explains the history of karakuri. What follows is a complete translation of Karakuri Zui which explained the mechanisms and methods of construction for several Japanese clocks and mechanical toys of the Edo period in Japan (1603-1867).

Murakami-San wrote to tell me about the Tumbling Acrobot automaton shown in the video above, which I've posted about in the past. He explains that the tumbling doll seems to have already been invented by the beginning of 18th century. Like many of the fine automata of the past, the Tumbling Acrobat was a toy for wealthy people. There is some evidence that the the doll was brought to Europe by the Dutch, where it was then imitated, westernized, improved, and manufactured by German toy makers to look more like this.

The great magician and automaton-maker, Robert-Houdin, bought a tumbling doll from a French toy maker. This story is recounted in the book Two Odd Volumes on Magic and Automata.

All of this information and more is covered in detail in Kazuo Murakami's new book, Japanese Automata. This soft cover book has a total of 257 pages with 104 original diagrams and drawings of the mechanical devices made during the Edo period. It has been published in a limited run of 500 copies. Here are is an small image of some of the pages:

Here is where you can see sample pages, reviews, and order the book Japanese Autoamta.

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Origami cranes perform synchronized dance routine with the help of magnets

I love this ingenious combination of traditional paper origami, magnets, puppetry, and programmed electronics. The flock of dancing cranes is the creation of Japanese designer Ugoita T. The result is a whimsical whole that is more than the sum of the parts. I think there are a lot of other interesting things he could do with this concept.

Feeling inspired? Here is where you can get all kinds of Origami paper, kits, and instruction books. While your are at it, maybe you'll want some small strong magnets!

Via the Colossal blog

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Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination

Due out late in February of 2011 is a most intriguing book by Minsoo Kang entitled Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination. The book explores the Western world's fascination with automata in order to better understand ourselves as humans.

From the book's press release:

Kang tracks the first appearance of the automaton in ancient myths through the medieval and Renaissance periods, marks the proliferation of the automaton as a central intellectual concept in the Scientific Revolution and the subsequent backlash during the Enlightenment, and details appearances in Romantic literature and the introduction of the living machine in the Industrial Age. He concludes with a reflection on the destructive confrontation between humanity and machinery in the modern era and the reverberations of the humanity-machinery theme today.

That is an impressive scope of inquiry! This book is sure to be a fascinating read for anyone interested in automata.

Here is where you can get the book: Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination.

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