@CO has always been fascinated with automatons. They're fun and fantastical, and take a simple mechanical input and transform it into an array of interesting motion. We recently designed and built this flying pig automaton to share with our colleagues and their families at our annual family day event!
The design actually started out as a humble box, inside of which we could sort out the mechanical movement. This basic design also let us figure out the laser cut joints we'd use to hold everything together. A simple layout sketch helped us work out the design of a crankshaft and plunger that would transform rotational motion into translational motion.
As the design evolved, we changed all sorts of things. The joints evolved from short straight spring hooks, to long curved ones. We used the built-in data management tools to capture revisions of the design every step of the way.
We even experimented with a variety of spring latch designs that rely on the plywood spring-boarding out of it's material plane instead of bending within it's thickness. These designs were all much more robust than our original spring hook designs.
We also altered the shape of the automaton as the design progressed. The box shrunk, and then was made to look like a boxy pig, and then finally took on the profile of a pig.
We were so happy with how the automatons were received during our family day event that we are bringing them to the Coney Island Maker Faire to share with faire goers.
https://coneyisland.makerfaire.com/
Check out this video to see how the whole project came together:
...and feel free to download these files (SOLIDWORKS, STEP and DXF) to make one of your own.
Here's a template for the wings:
...and the assembly instructions:
OurNextMake
