This new automaton from cool4cats titled A Tasty Snack explains why there are no fairies left. It would appear that the carnivorous plants have taken care of them all.
An interesting feature of the model is some gearing which is similar to the hour/minute hand arrangement of a clock. In this configuration, both hands rotate on the same spindle so they display on the same dial. In clock, the gears have a 12:1 ratio -- converting the hourly rotation of the minute hand into a 12th of a rotation for the hour hand. In this automaton, they have used a 4:1 ratio. It also looks as if they've used a paper belt drive. Very clever!
Artist Chris Fitch took the time to of put together a video in which he explains the mechanics of his limited edition piece titled, Tantalus Mackerel. I don't need to say much more here, because his explanation is so good.
As for the piece, here is what Chris Fitch as to say about it:
The story of Tantalus has been, since its Greek origins, a consistently applicable metaphor for the human condition. Tantalus angered the gods by trying to feed them the flesh of his own son, passed off as ambrosia. For this, he was chained to the bottom of a lake that reached to his chin. With luscious grapes drooping from vines above his nose, starving Tantalus was unable to enjoy either food or drink, as they were pulled away whenever he reached. I won't go on about how I think this relates to American culture today, which suffers from a kind of self-inflicted hunger from unrealistic expectations. Nor will I attempt to make any connection between the story of Tantalus and our current global problem with mercury levels in deep sea fish, and how we are our own gods and are punished by our own actions when we poison our own food supply. Let me just say, instead, that this piece is about a frustrated fish trying to catch a bug.
It's an incredible piece in every way: the narrative, the artistry, the mechanics. He only made three of these beauties, and (as of this writing) one is still available. For more videos and photos of sculptures by Chris Fitch, visit http://www.chrisfitchsculpture.com.
Did you read my latest automton-making tips article? If not, it shows you how to fuse urethane belt material to make belts of any size for your mechanical projects. The method desribed works well and is much, much cheaper than purchasing a belt welding kit made for the job. Still, the method I present could be improved. Probably the trickiest part is pressing together the two ends of the just-melted belt material. If you are just a little off, or the ends slide, you will end up with a lumpy belt.
Michael Henriksen over at BustedBricks.com read my article and came up with a way to clamp the belts during the process. He's now offering a laser-cut wood clamp kit for a very reasonable £6 or about $9.00. Not only does it make holding the belts easier, but his new clamp allows you to use a soldering iron to melt the ends of the belting. Here's a shot of the clamp in action.
As you can see from the photo, the clamp makes the process easier and more consistent. It also allows you to use a a tool that many people already own or can get very easily. Check out this selection of soldering irons if you don't already have one. A basic model will do, though you might consider getting more than one tip and dedicating one to melting belt material.
Check out this new wooden biplane kit. It looks like it has a nice compound action. It certainly is a good example of how to use o-ring material as pulley belts to transfer motion across a distance and to change the axis of rotation. For more detailed instructions on how to make belts out of o-ring material, check out Number 9 of of my Tips, Tricks, and Techniques article series.
The Bi-plane kit shown here is another great product from TimberKits, who offers an extensive line of automaton kits.
In my latest Tips, Tricks and Techniques article for Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, I show you exactly how to make custom-sized belts from urethane material. It's an easy method that produces a strong welded joint. It just requires the right materials, a bit of preparation, and some patience.
As you may have heard by now, I will be exhibiting at the World Maker Faire in New York City this weekend, September 29 and 30, 2012. I know not all of you can make it, but that doesn't mean you can't see some of my pieces in action! I am pleased to announce that I'll be posting videos of some of my own automata over the next several days while I am getting ready for and participating in Maker Faire.
Presenting for the first time online, video of my piece titled Which Card Says 'I Love You' as Much as I Really Do?
I made this one quickly compared to most of my others. I like the general idea because I've been the poor fellow depicted in the scene. No commercial greeting card product seems to hit the nail on the head. Maybe this automaton does? The hundreds of miniature greeting cards took me nearly as long to make as the automaton itself. Here's a close-up shot of the cards in the display shelf:
The mechanism for the automaton is straightforward. The bouncing heart advertising display is driven by a two-lobed cam. The figure's head is turned from side-to-side by two offset cams hitting opposite edges of a circular driving plate. The rotating card carousel is driven by a small belt twisted 90 degrees from the rotation of the main axle.
There appears to be a tradition among automaton-makers to make a piece related to Valentine's Day. This would be my contribution to the genre. Here's a round up of Valentine's Day pieces by other artists including Keith Newstead, Per Helldorff, Marc Horovitz, Rob Ives, Haruki Nakamura, and Paul Spooner. This list is by no means exhaustive; I know I've neglected many fine artists and examples.
Automatist Keith Newstead has made many pieces featuring bicycles, but this one has got to be one of the most intricate and grand that we've ever see here at The Automata Blog. The automaton was a commissioned piece and is titled The Amazing Journey
Th Amazing Journey
Newstead explains the origin of the piece:
John Lau has asked me to make a different version of my automaton 'Brians Brilliant Bike'. He would like me to feature his wife, Vivien, surrounded by all of their pets. He wants the automaton to remember his wedding -- such a nice thing to do.
The depiction of the human characters, John And Vivien, is lovely.
The bold colors and menagerie of the animated creatures adds tremendous amount life to the piece. This is a video you can watch more than once. Did you notice the acrobatic mouse on the front wheel of the bike? The rabbit's swagger as it conjures? The gentle swaying of the snake?
Mechanically, there is a lot to take in: pulleys, belts, linkages, joints, rotating objects as well as the metal combined with wood. Most fascinating for me, is the extremely clever rotating background. By rotating several discs behind the scene at different speeds, Newstead has simulated a parallax effect with wood and paint!
Here's a short video featuring a nifty donation box installed at the Havant Arts and Heritage Centre.
A visitor/donor drops a coin into the machine and turns the hand crank. The coin is deposited into a small carriage mounted on a belt system. Turning the crank raises the coin to the top of the box where it is sent down a track. From there the coin falls into a waiting hand which, having caught the coin, tips over to drop the it into the next hand. It's a nice symbol of giving and how many small contributions can add up to something substantial.
Here is a clever way to make gears that comes to us by way of LumberJocks.com. The method involves cutting a circular blank for the gear, then wrapping it with a section of car engine timing belt. The toothed belt conforms to the outside of the circle creating gear teeth. The belt is secured to the wood circle with strong a adhesive.
It seems like the tricky part might be in creating gears of different size to achieve certain gear ratios. It seems like a cardboard circle could be used to test how the belt will sit and if the teeth are spaced appropriately at the seam. Once the proper size circle is established with cardboard, the blank could then be cut in wood. Once you have the right sizes for several different gears, keep a record or a template and the job will be easy the next time around.
The retailer formerly know as SmallParts is now called AmazonSupply. They offer a huge selection of industrial and scientific supplies and parts all in one place. They've got a selection of over 500,000 items available via their web site, fast delivery, and competitive prices. Some items of interest to the readers of The Automata / Automaton Blog are listed below:
I have often said that many contemporary automata are animated three-dimensional single-panel cartoons like the ones you might find in the pages of The New Yorker. The piece shown in the video above is a perfect example of what I mean. A familiar scene such as training a dog to sit is turned on its head when the dog is replaced with a rhinoceros. The piece is by Dave Johnson who you may remember as the creator of the famous Buckyball-moving machine.
The artist explains the origins of the piece:
I got an email at work one day, and the subject was "Rhino Training". (We use a CAD program called Rhinoceros.) My colleague Arlen and I thought that was a hilarious image: trying to get a rhino to sit, with no effect whatsoever. All day long we'd say "Sit!" and then crack up.
So I made a machine about it.
Humor, sound, a slew of nifty mechanisms including the one for the word-bubble, and some truly organic twitching motions for the rhino's ear and tail. An excellent machine all around.
This automaton was commissioned by a fisherman living and a interesting sliding planetary drive with constant tension mechanism. As with all of his work, it has that Keith Newstead charm.
The Quercetti 3D Gear Tech construction set allows you to build 3 dimensional mechanical creations. The 270 piece set includes pillars, connectors, extenders, interlocking base plates and meshing gears in four sizes. The universal joints allow gears to be connected horizontally or vertically. The chain and and elastic belt drives provide a means to transmit rotary motion to distant axles and gears.
This looks like a really fun way to learn about most basic mechanical components and principles!
