Disney's interactive design system for rapidly creating physical characters and their motions

Check out this amazing software designed by Disney which enables character shapes and their desired motions to be generated very quickly.

From the video description:

We propose an interactive design system for rapid crafting of planar mechanical characters. Our method combines the simplicity of sketch-based modeling with the ease of defining motion through extreme poses. In order to translate these digital designs into fabrication-ready descriptions, our method automatically computes the mechanical structure that makes the characters move as desired. We achieve real-time performance by limiting the mechanical structure between pairs of components to simple building blocks that define, trim, and propagate their motion. By focusing on shape and motion, our system emphasizes the creative aspects of character design while hiding away the intricacies of the underlying mechanical structure. We demonstrate the flexibility of our approach on a set of virtual designs and physical prototypes.

By paring things down to just a character's outline and motion, the program is able to quickly generate 2D prototypes that focus on the underlying mechanical structure. The third dimension (depth) and aesthetic considerations can come later and benefit from a different set of tools. I like what they've done here. Linkages can produce some astonishing output motions from some simple inputs. Figuring out these linkages is far from intuitive however.

Here is where you can learn more about ChaCra: An Interactive Design System for Rapid Character Crafting.

[ Thanks Seth! ]

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"The Usual Subjects" motorized automaton by Tom Haney

Check out this new handmade figurative, kinetic sculpture by Tom Haney. I love this one!

The piece took over 250 hours to make from start to finish. It features hand-carved bodies, heads sculpted from polymer clay, a scratch-built mechanism, and handmade clothes. 8 cams and levers control all the movements, which is powered by a 4.8 RPM synchronous gearmotor.

See more automata by Tom Haney on his web site.

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Eye-changing mechanism makes this automaton very expressive

Here is another amazing automaton that came by way of master automaton maker, Thomas Kuntz. The last three posts were some of his recent contributions to The Automata / Automaton Group on Facebook. Check out the eye action on this automaton. Simply amazing! It adds so much to the expressiveness of the character.

[ Thanks to Thomas Kuntz! ]

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Monster Head Study No. 5 - A Nasty Little Devil!

Has it been since last November that I last shared with you one of my little monster head studies? Wow. For a some background, here is where you can catch up on my posts about Monster Head Study No. 1, Monster Head Study No. 2, Monster Head Study No. 3, and Monster Head Study No. 4. This one is No. 5.

As with the all of the wooden monster heads thus far, this one started out as a 1 inch diameter hardwood ball. These come in packs of 12. Though they have no knots, they are very hard and difficult carve with hand tools. As with Monster Head No. 4, much of this one was shaped by holding it against a 1 inch stationary belt sander. Mine is an old homemade tool, but it's basically like the one shown below (but not quite as nice). It's amazing how much "carving" I do on this machine.

Once again, the head is a sphere. Two of flat planes form the nose and eye areas. The mouth was also shaped on the sander by using the edge of the sanding belt to notch into the wooden ball. I like the downward turn of the lower part of his mouth. I think it makes him look like he may be saying something unfriendly.

The eyes are a little different on this one. I found a package of assorted wooden beads and selected a dark spherical one about 3/8" in diameter. Using an Xacto Razor Saw, I somehow cut slices off of opposite sides where the hole is located. I then cut angled pieces off the top of each one to give they eyes that angry look. The bead slices were then glued on either side of the nose.

I cut a tiny wooden wheel in half and those became the ears for the monster. They are like these wooden wheels, but even smaller -- only about 1/2" in diameter. The ends of a 10" bamboo skewers became the horns. These pieces were glued into holes drilled into the top of the head.

Of the five monsters presented so far, I like this one best. He looks like a nasty little devil, but still has a whimsical quality. He'd be fun to watch from a distance, but you wouldn't want him running loose in your house. I like the proportion and placement of the horns. I also like bulging, dark eyes. And, those tiny wooden wheels make surprisingly good ears!

That's all for now. There are many more monster head studies to come so stay tuned.

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Tiny Tabs Indigestion Tablets mechanical window display

Protected for years in its original shipping crate, this early 20th century window display advertises "Tiny Tabs Indigestion Tablets". The mechanical sign features a clockwork motor that allows the center body portion to spin and the ball on top to swing. When the swinging ball approaches the upright post on the left, the string gets caught. The ball is carried around the post, wrapping the string with it. The string then unwinds, freeing the ball, allowing it to swing again. I've seen a clock that uses a similar principle as a regulating pendulum.

From the eBay description:

Measuring 21" wide at the base by 29 1/4" tall to the top of the spinning wood balls, this early 20th century, Advertising Automaton advertises for "Tiny Tabs Indigestion Tablets." After some searching on the net I found that this product was made by the Peace Remedy Company, which was a small Brooklyn NY Company. There is very little on the net about this company never mind another advertising sign of any sort. The advertisement of a cartoon character, with a Tablet Body is very close to the "Speedy Alka Seltzer" character who came later.

The seller has a much longer description and a ton of interesting photos of the Tiny Tabs Indigestion Tablets mechanical window display.

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Make a generic wooden head from basic shapes

The latest installment of my column on automata-making is now posted on the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre web site! In this article, I show you how to make a generic male head with a few pre-cut wood shapes and some basic tools. This head can be modified to create many different characters. Shown above is the prototype head. By drawing on it with pencil, you can "audition" various characters for your projects.

Here is a link to Dug’s Automata Tips, Techniques and Tricks No.5 about How to make a Prototype Wooden Head from Basic Shapes.

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Me...and a bunch of little wooden monster heads

I don't tend to share a lot of what I (Dug North) do in my own workshop on this blog. When I started The Automaton / Automaton Blog in 2006, I just posted about things that fascinated me: antique automata, contemporary automata, mechanical toys, kinetic sculpture, books, and tools. After a while, it felt strange to post about my own projects.

I guess the time has come to start to include more of my own work on the blog now and then. Writing about yourself and what you are up to is sort of what blogs are all about. That's what I've been told, anyway. And so, this is my first tentative step in that direction. Here we go...

While working on a new automaton this year, I got stuck. Very badly stuck. This was a new and frustrating experience for me. When it comes to creative projects, I generally know what I want to do and then do it. Sure, I make changes along the way, but I've never really hit a dead end. This project was different. The situation became so bad that I found myself avoiding the workshop more and more. Not good.

I struggled to think of a way to break out of the vicious cycle I found myself in. But, the more I thought, the worse things became. Thinking hard about something -- historically something I've used to my advantage -- became a big part of the problem. I needed to use my hands again. Get out of my own head. Make something.

I once heard that writers with writer's block should just sit down and force themselves to write. Write anything at all. Just keep writing. No editing, no planning, no rereading what was written, just write until the block is cleared. This process may take minutes, hours, days, or weeks. Maybe even longer.

I wondered if I could apply a similar technique. Making a stream-of-consciousness automaton (while perhaps possible for some) seemed far too daunting. So, I resolved to make little wooden monster heads. Does that sound odd? Well, I like monsters -- at least small wooden ones. I figured that the task would get me to use my hands and tools again. I chose carving because, for me, it is the most right-brained aspect of making an automaton. I can lose all track of time while doing it. Perhaps I would come up with a few characters that I could use in a future automaton.

I chose as my starting point either a 1 inch wooden sphere or a 1 inch wooden cube. The idea was to go into the workshop and just start carving until something happened. No sketches, no pictures, no modeling clay. Gluing things on, I decided, was permissible. My task was to add and remove wood until a little monster head was formed. I'd come out of the workshop when it was done.

So, how did it go? While it certainly wasn't the answer to all of life's problems, the technique worked to a large extent. Over the course of a few weeks, I started to enjoy the process. I never knew exactly what would come of each session. I like some of the monsters better others, but I've come to appreciate them all for helping me to get unstuck. Without further ado, let me introduce you to Monster Head Study No. 1:

Dug North's Monster Head Study No. 1, 2011

The head is basswood, carved with hand tools and a Dremel. The horns are made of 1/8 inch thick Baltic birch plywood that I stained with a wood-stain marker. I drilled holes for the eyes and did a tiny bit of wood-burning to define the eyebrows and nostrils. I don't recall how long this took me to make, but it was less than an hour. This creature doesn't have a name (in fact, none of them do), but I am open to suggestions! I'll share more of these in the weeks to come.

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UPDATE: April 27, 2011 - Reader Les submitted this digitally enhanced version of Monster Head Study No. 1 (below). Check out the red cat eyes! Thanks Les!

Dug North's Monster Head Study No. 1 with red cat eyes

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Hand-cranked steampunk spider automaton

From the Impsandthings blog comes this awesome mechanical spider. The creator of this metal arachnid is trained as ceramicist and has been working with mixed media for the last ten years. This has lead to some really cool sculptures of well...imps and (steampunkish) things.

Here is where you can see one of Impsandthings' gallery of sculptures. Here's where you can see a second gallery of sculptures by Impsandthings.

[ Thanks Tom! ]

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