Steam Punk Spider automata

Well after nearly 2 weeks it is complete and working!
It would have been done earlier but I decided to add some extra movement. The mandibles move (not much though) and I've put a little motor into the body to turn a big wheel. it doesn't actually do anything but I like it!
Let me know what you think.

I feel really pleased with the end result, especially as it was my first go. Some of the movements are a bit sluggish (not helped in the video by me turning the sculpture while operating it) but this could be rectified if I rebuilt it. I've learnt a lot and it became more ambitious as it went along and as my confidence grew. The one thing that I think lets it down is the head, I was so engrossed in the mechanism for the body I really didn't consider this until too late so it was a bit bodged.

complete spider mechanism

After over 3 days of failed attempts I have finally constucted something which works fairly well. The 2 individual mechanisms were quite simple; an eccentric cam to create the up and down movement for the body (which also lifted the 6 main legs) and a rocking mechanism for the two tapping front legs.

The BIG problem was linking the two together so they worked from one handle and at the correct speed. I tried various methods to avoid using cogs because I just didn't feel confident I could make them well enough. It was fairly obvious that this was the only solution though. After about 4 sets of cogs I finally got a pair that worked smoothly.

The finished product looks crude but does work better than I could have hoped.

Spider legs up and running

After a little experimentation the spider legs, well 6 of them anyway, are working. I settled for a simple cam below the legs so the body just goes up and down making the hinged legs gently move too. Its a bit rough as the base is still loose but it seems to work well enough. Next I want to add two front legs which tap away making it look impatient. Not really sure how this will work....

Steam Punk Spider begins

I have started to experiment with making a steam punk spider as a automata. I had originally planned for all the legs to move but now I think only the front 2 will move up and down, tapping impatiently while the body itself slowly lifts and drops. This will be easier to make!

Int he background you can see a very rough mockup which i did to get a feel for joints and scale. In the foreground I have made a pair of legs from thin wood, jointed with brass with a few bits of plastic added to give a more mechanical feel.

The next step will be to make the body mechanism.

carnival of insects venice

I recently saw an advert for cannon sureshot featuring some amazing giant insect puppets in Venice. With a bit of hunting a found some more clips and images (click the photo link below or follow the address)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OcwKzbN5c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECBBCHIuI3A

I love giant puppets so was instantly captivated by these, especially the preying mantis. I'm not working on anything at the moment and in fact have been too busy to really feel motivated but I now have an urge to amke a steam punk insect automata. I have a vague idea so far on making the legs move but will have to experiment.