littleBits electronics kits -- an opensource library of electronic modules that snap together magnets!

Amazon has been creating lists of recommended toys for the holidays for years. I just discovered that they now have a specific STEM Holiday Toy Guide -- that's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. This list is big!


Shown above is the littleBits Electronics Deluxe Kit. This is the biggest of the littleBits electronics kits -- an opensource library of electronic modules that snap together with tiny magnets for prototyping. No soldering required. Now that's a great idea! This particular kit features 18 modules. You will have everything you need to make something that blinks, moves, makes noise, and more! these are really clever kits and the have many different ones.

While this kit is the biggest, they offer many more exciting and educational kits. They are something like the SnapCircuit kits which have been available for a while, which also don't require any soldering. Check out the full full line littlebits and SnapCircuits kits. You can have completed electronic circuits humming away on the kitchen table before the plates have been cleared!

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The Topsy Turvy Clock by Andy Clark

Andy Clark of The Workshop Shed blog made this, The Topsy Turvy Clock, after being inspired by a kids TV show, featuring a clock with numbers in the wrong places.

Andy Clark explains:

I saw a clock with the numbers in a Topsy Turvy order and wondered if I could actually make it work. After concluding it would be too much of a technical challenge to make it entirely clockwork, I decided to use stepper motors and software control. I wanted it to look like an original mantel clock so the brass mechanism and style of numerals were key. I had the numbers laser cut in card by a company who normally make wedding table decorations so the what I call "antique white" is actually "champagne". I started planning in late November last year so it's been a long build with mechanical, electronic and software challenges. I finished it just this week after a month of fine tuning and completing the software.

Here is where you can learn more about the Topsy Turvy Clock. It's also been entered in the Atmel Simply AVR Design Contest, so be sure to vote for it!

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Gear boxes, motors, vehicles and track drives from Tamiya

The Tamiya company produces a whole line of interesting mechanical components for model makers. These can be really useful for understanding key concepts better -- gear ratios, worm gears, and drive trains. Better still, they can integrated directly into your mechanical projects. Here are a few of my favorites:

Tamiya Tracked Vehicle Chassis Kit
Use this kit as a stand-alone or combine it with other accessories making a more complex machine with more capabilities. The gear box can be built with two possible gear ratios-Standard: 203.7:1 or High Speed 58.2:1. The motor is included.

Tamiya Planetary Gear Box Set
The Planetary Gear Set from Tamiya features a highly versatile system for reduction of high RPM electric motors to high-torque low RPM applications. RC-260 motor operates on 3 volts. Combining the gearboxes in various ways enables 8 different gear ratios -- 4:1, 5:1, 16:1, 20:1, 25:1, 80:1, 100:1, and 400:1.

Tamiya 70168 Double Gearbox L/R Independent 4-Speed
Suitable for use with remote controlled robots. Left/right independent design means you can set different gear ratios for either side. This set can be assembled for 1 of 4 different gear ratios -- 12.7: 1, 38.2:1, 114.7:1, and 344.2:1

Tamiya 72008 4-Speed Worm Gearbox H.E.
The gearbox features four gear ratios (84:1, 216:1, 555.4:1, 1428.2:1). The gear ratio can be easily adjusted by altering the middle and final gear attachment positions.

Tamiya 4WD Chassis Kit
The 4WD Chassis incorporates a four-wheel shaft-drive system similar to those in full size 4WD vehicles. A hex shaft transfers power from the center gear box to the outer gear box giving 4WD power.

Here's a full line of tools, materials, and kits offered by Tamiya.

[ Thanks Mike! ]

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Tiny Town diorama - 68 years in the making, entirely from found and recycled materials

Tiny Town was the creation of a man named Frank Moshinskie who worked on it for 68 years. The display depicts various places in America that Moshinskei visited. Over 20 states are represented. The tiny people were hand-carved by Moshinskeie. You get a brief look at the mechanism that powers it all -- also made from recycled objects -- around the 1:25 mark in the video posted above.

From an article on Tiny Town:

Frank wanted his Tiny Town to be busy, so 18 hidden motors power everything from the rivers to the oil pump jacks to the carousel and merry-go-round. Push-buttons at various spots allow visitors to make the tiny people move: people swim, swing, hammer and saw, rock in hammocks, hang up clothes. A family eats the same sandwiches they've been eating since 1963; the bread goes up and down to their mouths many times a minute.

The entire thing is made from found, recycled, and inexpensive objects. Nothing in Tiny Town cost more than $4.00. Items used include cat food cans, rotisserie motors, puzzle pieces, popsicle sticks, sawdust, record player parts, and anything else you can imagine.

You can still visit Tiny Town in Hot Springs, Arkansas where his son Charles has continued to display it as a tribute to his father's creativity.

Here is the full article on Tiny Town from RoadsideAmerica.com.

[ Thanks Tom! ]

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The Quarterdeck Striker - a hybrid electromechanical wooden clock with moving figure

Unsure of what to do with a wooden nut-cracker figure given to him by his granddaughter, John Hilgenberg created the most interesting clock I've seen in long time. The clock, called The Quarterdeck Striker, behaves like most ship's clocks, striking 1 to 8 bells every half hour in 4 hour cycles.

The design is a wonderful mix things: Baltic birch gears, motors, relays, cam operated lever switches, an odometer display, an old coffee table, Geneva wheels, and the nut cracker figure who is put to use striking the bell. The weight driven movement is regulated by a deadbeat escapement and and is rewound with an ingenious maintaining power self-winder of Hilgenberg's own design. Hilgenberg provides a nice overview of the clock in the video.

You can see more clocks and wooden creations by John Hilgenberg on his YouTube channel.

[ Thanks Warren! Thanks Christoph! ]

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