#video #toread on "Selectramatronics", using a Selectric-like mechanism for mouth expressions on face #automata made by #3D-printing
on 02025-10-29#video of #Fraser looking at ancient Greek #automata, replicating a wooden mobile robot described by Heron of Alexandria. He talks through a bit of the #history of the Greek automaton tradition. A weight sinks down into an hourglass, supported by the sand (or in this case seeds) and pulling on cords which move the automaton; the cords are wound around axles, which have pins in them around which the cords can be wrapped to alternate directions of motion, without cam #mechanisms.
on 02025-10-12#video #toread of 8' of Ravindra Godbole making a sand-powered acrobat automaton. #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread of 6' of Shasa Bolton’s writer automaton laser-cut from MDF. #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread of 15' of #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread of 20' about Japan’s only karakuri doll master #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread of 6' about Oliver Pett’s #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread of 41' about #mechanisms and methods for making #automata
on 02025-10-11#video #toread about the #Jaquet-Droz #automata and in particular about restoring them.
on 02025-10-11#video about sand-powered #automata #mechanisms, lifting a bucket of sand with a hole in the bottom until the sand hits a stop. This yields a very predictable, slow motion that can last many minutes, powered ultimately by a spring or weight, originating in Heron of Alexandria’s shrine of Bacchus. Another approach, used in the automaton from 01863 shown in the video, dribbles sand onto a sort of water wheel made of paper, driving it with the weight of the sand itself. In this case the wheel can rotate either direction, and the sand goes directly onto the dead center of the wheel, so the wheel rotates chaotically. The box is sealed with the sand inside, so you can recharge its energy by rotating it slowly in a certain way to get the sand back into the hopper! On some versions, including one made by the channel’s owner, Michael Start of the House of Automata, the mechanism is visible through the clear back.
on 02025-10-11#video on bent #wire #cardboard #automata #mechanisms. Shows making crankshafts from galvanized steel wire with pliers, a frame bent around a plastic box using cut bicycle spokes to form loops. Shows how to loop a thinner wire around the crankshaft several turns to form a triangle to prevent the connecting rod from sliding along the shaft. Suggest using kitchen tongs (?), a square pipe, and a sort of clamp for wire bending as well. He mentions copper, “M.S.”, zinc, and solder wire. Demonstrates scribing a plastic box with a sort of improvised height gauge on a normal Formica table, and using a hot wire to puncture it. By godbolerr@gmail.com, Ravindra Godbole.
on 02024-06-09