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:
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:
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:
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.