Finishing Our Automatas

I have just finished my automatas, which took me one week to build. An automata is a mechanical figure constructed such that it is capable of acting automatically or without an external motive force. Making the automatas was a very fun process as we learned about the different parts and how they worked. The parts I used were a cardboard box, extra scarp cardboard, tape, and wooden dowels. We also used a hot glue gun and different types of cutting machines, as it was my first time using them. There were five options to choose from to make an automatas. I choose the one with the crank in the middle of the cardboard box and with the cardboard circle (cam) inside the box spinning. The other types of automatas resulted in objects moving up and down, and left and/or right motion. I ended up making an automatas, which caused a cardboard leg to move in a kicking motion.

My first step to building it was to cut the edges of the cardboard box, make holes in it and to use it for scrap cardboard. Next, I cut a big cardboard circle and make a hole in the middle. ThenI cut two long cardboard pieces, which were the diameter of the box. Because they were a little wobbly, I had to put small cardboard squares in between them so they don’t bend. ThenI made holes in the straight cardboard pieces and hot glued them to the edge of the box. Next, I put a wooden dowel in between the holes of the straight cardboard pieces. After that, I cut five cardboard squares of my scrap cardboard box and put in towards the middle on the dowel. ThenI put hot glue on the edge of the cardboard square, closest to the middle and put my cardboard circle on the squares. ThenI made another hole at the bottom of the cardboard circle. I secured one side with a cardboard square attached to a tiny wooden dowel. On the other side, I put a metal ring. Lastly, I got another dowelstuck it through the hole on the top of the box, and hot glued the bottom end of the dowel to the dowel with the metal ring on it. After that, I made a crank from the side of the wooden dowel sticking out and used cardboard and tape to make a crank.

Overallit was a very interesting experience, as I made my first automata.

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