18 Oct 2018

My First Automaton "Jumping Kangaroo"

My dream finally came true!
The dream I have been having is making automata.


I couldn't make automata when I was in Japan because I didn't have enough tools and a workplace. Now, there is a workplace for puzzles and it's a very convenient environment to make automata.


The first automaton I have decided to make was a very simple design. There are only two cams. I thought a simple structure would be good for the first challenge. 


Ta-dah! 
This is the first automaton I made. It's a jumping kangaroo.
The body of the kangaroo is connected to the stick underneath the box and it's touched one of the cams. Unfortunately, the shape of this cam wasn't good. I drew straight lines where I should have drawn curvy lines, that was the big mistake. Therefore, the movement of this cam is not perfect, but looks not bad.

As you can see, the kangaroo's front feet and ears don't move. I wanted to move those parts, but you know, this was the first challenge and I didn't think I could do it. After I took those pictures, I have noticed that I forgot to make eyes. I'll add the eyes later.

This time, I didn't draw a detailed design in advance. I made a box roughly. So, I'm going to draw a detailed plan using 3D software next time. I haven't decided what will be next. At the least, I want to use gears.

Please look forward to the next automaton!

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