Ingenious box for a Japanese automaton serves as container and performace stage

Check out this cleverly designed box that houses this tumbling acrobat automaton and serves as the base for its performance! A description of this box may be found on pages 152 and 153 of the book Japanese Automata, Karakuri Zui: An Eighteenth Century Japanese Manual of Automatic Mechanical Devices by Murakami-san (Murakami, Mr. Kazuo .

The man in the movie is Edo period karakuri specialist, Minesaki-san (Minesaki, Mr. Sougo). The container and the automaton are replicas of 18th century items which he made.

Here is where you can download sample pages and order the book Japanese Automata, Karakuri Zui: An Eighteenth Century Japanese Manual of Automatic Mechanical Devices.

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Build seven different models using the motorized gyroscope unit in this kit

Gyroscopes are one of those physics-based things that seem to have an almost magical quality. You know...kind of like magnets.

With the Thames and Kosmos Gyroscopic Robot Kit, you can learn about this incredible device by building seven different models using the motorized gyroscope unit that comes with the kit. The models include a one-wheeled gyroscopic robot (shown above), a balancing personal vehicle, an artificial horizon, a gyro-compass, a balancing game, a tightrope walker, and a flight simulator. The kit comes with a 24-page illustrated manual, which provides step-by-step assembly instructions and scientific explanations.

Here is where you can get the Thames and Kosmos Gyroscopic Robot Kit.

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Book: Inventing a Better Mousetrap -- 200 Years of American History in the Amazing World of Patent Models

Check out this book about patent models. In it, you both learn about the role that patent models played in American history, and have a chance to do some (re)inventing of your own.

From the book description:

Patent models, working models required for US patent filings from 1790 to 1880, offer insight into--and inspiration from--a period of intense technological advancement, the Industrial Revolution. The Rothschild Patent Model Collection consists of thousands of patent models, many from the 19th century. This book features the most outstanding of these patent models, and offers deep insight into the cultural, economic, and political history of the United States.

This book not only catalogs hundreds of nifty models, but also shows you how to build your own replicas using Lego, 3D printing, and other materials and techniques!

Here is where you can get Inventing a Better Mousetrap: 200 Years of American History in the Amazing World of Patent Models

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