We have been entertaining and inspiring visitors & makers with our collection of automata since 1981. Now based in Hastings, UK we have exhibitions all over the world.
We need your help to run our 2026 community engagement projects. As a non profit company all donations go towards our goals to share the magic of automata with our local and global community.
Our new exhibition , The Mechanicals, produced in collaboration with Science Projects is enjoying a successful first outing at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Visitor feedback has been very enthusiastic:…
Paul Spooner’s latest work features a complicated mechanism which draws the infinity symbol. The story of Clever Hans is pretty well known. There’s a good account on Wikipedia with valuable…
A great collectors item from Fourteen Balls Toy Company. A pair of tiny hand carved crowned royals, which vibrate lovingly on their spring mechanisms. Both pieces are number 1 of…
A new edition of Walter Ruffler’s book. The book contains 24 pages of theory and 14 construction kits. 8 of the construction kits are for individual mechanical principles, and 6…
A new piece from Paul Spooner (2011) This beady eyed crow blinks as the turning handle alerts him to the presence of your hand, which he then follows as it…
A great piece from Carlos Zapata from 2001, which was part of a small edition. Turn the handle and the oarsman vigorously rows with his single oar boat, down the…
Attaching Cams, Pulleys, Cranks, Gears, and Handles to Wooden Shafts To get things moving in an automaton, some parts must be attached firmly to round wooden shafts. But how? And…
A beautiful piece from Carlos Zapata, 2005. Turn the handle to give some well-deserved applause – a lovely congratulatory gift. Made of carved and painted wood, metal handle. Height 15…
