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!

Holey Rectangle

Today, I would like to show you a puzzle I made. I mean it's not my design, of course. This is "Holey Rectangle" designed by Juno a long time ago. This is the puzzle that makes 16 holes with packing all the pieces into a 6 x 8 rectangle.

It seems like there are more people who love 3D puzzles rather than 2D puzzles. I usually like 3D puzzles, but it's nice to play with flat puzzles like this sometimes.
I don't know how difficult this is. Honestly, I haven't succeeded to solve it yet. If you are my blog reader, you may know that I have two unsolved puzzles; Half Cut and Tricky Dick. Maybe, I have added one more unsolved puzzle to the collection.

Talking about woodworking, it was my first experience of making a proper box.
I think I could make it well. What do you think?

I was going to make more extra "Holey Rectangles", but I couldn't get enough timber. If I could make another copy of this puzzle, I thought I can put it on eBay auction as I have done before. Maybe next time.

Have a nice puzzling day!

Juno's World: Holey Rectangle
http://www.polyhedra.jp/puzzle/holey-rectangle01-e.html

Fun Videos: Chris Ramsay

Hi puzzle lovers! Juno and I've been having busy days. 
We have been making four different puzzles at the same time. No wonder it has been busy.

Today, I'm going to write about the famous YouTuber, Chris Ramsay.
Honestly, I didn't know him until I heard about him from Brian (Mr Puzzles). Lotus sequential discovery puzzle designed by Wil Strijbos was introduced by Chris Ramsay and it seems that it had an outburst of popularity. I haven't seen this yet, but before seeing it I can tell that I am not able to solve it. It's a very difficult puzzle.

Chris Ramsey is a magician who loves puzzles. He introduces lots of puzzles on YouTube and also, of course, he performs magic sometimes before challenging to solve a puzzle. I like him showing that kind of magic. It's not a large-scale performance yet it's lots of fun.

His way of explaining puzzles is, if I can explain it briefly, entertainment. His talking is fantastic and in addition the camera work and video editing are great. I wonder if he does all the work by himself?

In case you haven't seen his videos, I think I should tell you this. He explains each puzzle's solution, so if you don't want to see a solution, don't watch until it ends, but if you have already solved it, it's worth watching until it ends because it's quite fun.

I am looking forward to him updating his next video.

Chris Ramsey: http://www.chris-ramsay.com/

YouTube: Chris Ramsay - Magic - Puzzles - Vlogs : 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrPUg54jUy1T_wII9jgdRbg

The puzzle "PANDAmonium at the Zoo"

I've got a new puzzle. It's "PANDAmonium at the Zoo" designed and made by Brian Young. If you attended the puzzle exchange of the International Puzzle Party this year, you may have this puzzle.

I haven't played with a 2D assemble puzzle for a long time and it was fun to play with. If you want to forget the time, it's a good idea to play this puzzle. You may encounter an awkward situation like as if it's almost solved, but it's not solved. You know, that is a puzzle.

 

I assumed that one of the big pieces should have been put in a corner, but my guessing was wrong. However, the position of the smallest piece was where I guessed. Anyway, I could solve this puzzle.

If you have read my blog before, maybe you remember that I wrote about the puzzle "Half Cut."
Well, I'm still struggling with it. It's a hard puzzle to solve.
Every time I play with it, a triangular prism piece sticks out from a wooden box. How provoking the triangular prism piece is!
I'll let you know when I've solved it.

PANDAmonium at the Zoo is available at Mr Puzzle's onlineshop.

https://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/panda-zoo-ipp.html

Scolded by a lizard

I was born and grew up in Japan and hadn't seen large lizards. Here in Australia, there are lots of large lizards living and one large lizard seems to live in my yard.

One day, I came home from the local supermarket and found a large lizard was sitting in front of the garage. I wanted to park my car inside of it, but the lizard didn't want to move at all. Lizards in Japan run away quickly when they see a human. Australian lizards don't care about humans.

I couldn't park my car and got out of the car and got closer to the lizard. It looked at me without hesitation. I expected if I got closer to it, the lizard should have run away.
Then, what happened was the lizard got angry at me. I didn't expect it at all. What a surprise, I was scolded by the lizard!
He seemed to take offense at me and threatened me. I know he was a descendant of dinosaurs and he is large as a lizard, but luckily, he was smaller than me. I took a long branch and moved it in front of him, and finally he left reluctantly.

It was funny that the lizard seemed like declaring "I have a right to stay here!" Yes, you were right.
You and your ancestors have been living here for a long time. I'm a new resident, I promise you that I'm not going to interrupt your afternoon sleep, except you are sleeping in front of the garage.