Since finishing the new Puppy Love automata I got a little distracted by a few other projects, 2 of which have nothing to do with automata.
Last year I came across a YouTube video of a mystery maze box. It is a cool idea and I've wanted to make one. I finally took the time to and here it is:
Last year I came across a YouTube video of a mystery maze box. It is a cool idea and I've wanted to make one. I finally took the time to and here it is:
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The creator of this box is Turnvater Janosch. He has an excellent video of the box as well as several other interesting videos. Please check his channel out. There is a hidden maze that surrounds the drawer. The drawer will not open until the ball in the maze is at a certain point.
After making the mystery maze box I wanted to try a visible 3D cube maze. I have seen a couple examples on YouTube and they looked like fun. I decided to not go for the whole 6 sides of a cube and stick with just 4, similar to the mystery maze box. It would be easier to figure out a maze and easier to encase it in plexiglass. This is what I came up with:
After making the mystery maze box I wanted to try a visible 3D cube maze. I have seen a couple examples on YouTube and they looked like fun. I decided to not go for the whole 6 sides of a cube and stick with just 4, similar to the mystery maze box. It would be easier to figure out a maze and easier to encase it in plexiglass. This is what I came up with:
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I made this box designed around a standard marble that's about 5/8" in diameter. The runs are 3/4" wide and the walls 1/4" thick. The box ended up about 10 inches square. I had some PVC pipe kicking around so I placed a few internal runs to add a little more confusion. In the bottom left picture you can see the marble just above the black hole. To the right of the marble is a black dot and then an orange dot. There are hloes in the plexi above those dots. You drop the marbe into one of the holes, say the hole over the black dot, and the goal is to manuver the marble to the hole over the orange dot. It is challenging because of the maze but also it weighs about 5 pounds and you end up getting a good upper body workout! I want to scale it down to half the size. I haven't drawn up the plans to that scale yet but that'll be a good rainy day project.
My last distraction does relate to automata. Last year when I decided to attend a couple of shows I noticed that the people would not stop by unless I was actually cranking one of my sculptures. People would look quickly and I could see the puzzled look as they kept on going. If I cranked on a piece their eyes would widen, a smile would pop and they would come over. I felt a bit like a carney beckoning people to play a game at the carnival. I thought I would motorize one of my pieces so it would always be running. Which one should I use? Then I came up with the idea of a sign with moving letters. This is the result:
My last distraction does relate to automata. Last year when I decided to attend a couple of shows I noticed that the people would not stop by unless I was actually cranking one of my sculptures. People would look quickly and I could see the puzzled look as they kept on going. If I cranked on a piece their eyes would widen, a smile would pop and they would come over. I felt a bit like a carney beckoning people to play a game at the carnival. I thought I would motorize one of my pieces so it would always be running. Which one should I use? Then I came up with the idea of a sign with moving letters. This is the result:
Each of the 8 letters has a different movement. You can see a video of it on my YouTube channel here. All in all it works well and should get people's attention. Also this could be made up in anyone's name and be a fun gift.
I decided to go with a battery powered motor because electricity isn't always available. I had an old cordless drill that I dismantled. I left the chuck on and that is chucked onto the shaft. I removed the drill's "trigger" switch and I am using it as the speed control. The knob at the bottom of the box is a bolt that can be screwed in and squeezes the switch. The wires exiting the box run over to a battery. I haven't tested the run time on the battery yet. The battery was an odd 19.2 volt but I think I can use other batteries of similar voltage. I have a couple of 18 volt batteries that I can use. I'll test things out and see what happens. My electronics training from the USAF has long since been forgotten and I need to do some research and educate myself in DC and AC motors and controllers.
I decided to go with a battery powered motor because electricity isn't always available. I had an old cordless drill that I dismantled. I left the chuck on and that is chucked onto the shaft. I removed the drill's "trigger" switch and I am using it as the speed control. The knob at the bottom of the box is a bolt that can be screwed in and squeezes the switch. The wires exiting the box run over to a battery. I haven't tested the run time on the battery yet. The battery was an odd 19.2 volt but I think I can use other batteries of similar voltage. I have a couple of 18 volt batteries that I can use. I'll test things out and see what happens. My electronics training from the USAF has long since been forgotten and I need to do some research and educate myself in DC and AC motors and controllers.
