Our Automata Tinkering Kit (ATK) has been in development since 2020, with the prototypes being used and improved during our online Automata Tinkering Global Workshops. We continue to improve it and produce it in small quantities. It is now for sale here but occasionally it will go out of stock. You can also buy plans for cutting if you have a laser cutter.
Below are videos demonstrating some of the mechanisms you can make with the kit.
The pegboard idea came from The Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio as a design intended for use with Lego. We’ve kept the Lego hole size so it will accept Lego parts. Ours is mostly plywood and the first test we tried was the 3-bar linkage from our book. See video above and pages 70-71 of the second edition (or 73-74 of 1st). The yellow point is approximating a straight line and the blue point is tracing a rough ellipse.
Above is a crank-slider mechanism. You can try different wheels to change the amount of throw.
Here we are demonstrating different cam shapes. The red line is an approximation of the path of the black dot which was made by motion tracking a point near the right-hand end of the top linkage. The idea being to give an indication of the differences over time, as opposed to the easier to see, up and down movement of the cam follower.
Next up is a bell crank. This linkage turns a circular motion into a straight line motion.
From continuous motion to intermittent motion using a ratchet. The bell crank from the previous video is converting the up and down motion into a side to side movement that pushes the ratchet around. There isn’t really any backlash on the ratchet but if there was the pawl / detent at the bottom would stop that movement. We’ve used an elastic band to keep it pressed against the ratchet. Dealing with the fixed spacing of the pivot points of the pegboard meant that this took a bit of trial and error to get working.
This is our first cardboard design to try out the top platform piece. Also introducing gearing with pulleys and a rubber band.
The ATK comes with two pulleys but you’ll need to assemble them yourself. The video above shows how to do it.
The start of the video will help you identify the parts; two outer and one inner piece for each of the two pulleys. Check the drying time on your glue. They should be ok to use after an hour or two but preferably leave them to dry overnight.
Using too much glue will make them more likely to slip out of alignment while drying as well as giving you more to clean up.
More Making
For more information on the book shown in the videos above see our Cabaret Mechanical Movement page. We also have a video to purchase (stream or download) on Vimeo called How To Make Automata.
To get more updates on the Automata Tinkering Kit, you can follow us on Instagram or sign up to our Makers mailing list. When the kit is available it will be for sale here.
