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Al's Automata Blog

And Now for Something a Little Diferent

12/11/2017

3 Comments

 
Every year the grandkids come north and we attend the evening Santa Parade in Fenelon Falls. It' a pretty good showing for a smaller rural town. Since the kids are a little older I pitched that maybe we should enter a float in next years parade! I figured with a little twist on my automata work we could do something little different, fun and, fun for the family and the community.

Before committing I thought I should try and make something that would meet my personal criteria which are entertaining, weatherproof, sturdy enough to survive the trip to town and the parade route, and of course, somewhat automated. So I set out to build a prototype penguin to see how hard working with foam and scaling things would be. Well here is my guy. My daughter has named him Pete. He is 36" tall, opens and closes his mouth and he will waddle side to side when install on the float.

I found a few challenges working with the foam, but basically I think I can pass the 10 ft blink test needed for a parade character. Anyway, here is Pete!
3 Comments
Robert Gilmour
12/12/2017 10:45:39 am

My son was on my 300 acres in Norland and there is finally snow.
I was up at the beginning of December and there was no snow.
At least Santa will be happy!

Reply
William wigley
12/21/2017 06:51:24 am

Al, can you explain the 10 foot blink test? I'm not familiar with that phrase....

Reply
Al Conquergood
12/21/2017 08:44:32 am

Hi William. When something can’t be seen from further away I say it passes the blink test. In this case the glue seam on the penguin is noticeable up close. Ion a parade where viewers are at least 10 ft. away I can live with it. It is also a night parade! So I will not be spending any more time to make them invisible.

Thanks for the question.


Al

Reply



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    Why Automata?

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  • Home
  • Automata Blog
  • Automata Gallery
    • The Balsam Lake Elevator Co. >
      • A Tour of the Hoist Room
      • The Key BLEC Employees
    • DJ's Bee Bop Palooza >
      • Roles of Bees in a Hive
      • The Bee Bop Characters
    • Swimming With The Dolphins
    • Tubing The River Styx
    • A Boat, A Boy, And A Dog
    • Parking Lot Wars
    • The Invisible Audiophile
    • Black Bear Bliss
    • The Chase
    • Baa Baa Bad Sheep! >
      • Baa Baa Bad Sheep Photo Gallery
    • The Penguins' Revenge
    • Cirque de Poulet
    • I'm Thinking & Laura
    • The Bipolar Brain
    • Tempest in a Teacup
    • Inner Demon
    • Sewer Rat Symphony >
      • Musican Profiles
    • The Captive
    • Bored Out of My Skin
    • Waiting at the Clinic
    • The Diagnosis
    • Snowbirds
    • The Not So Early Bird - The Common Sleptin
    • 1 HP Heart Pump
    • The Trojan Cat
    • 7-1/2 Horsepower
    • Howdy!
    • The Bus Stop
    • Rhinoceros Racing
    • It's an Uphill Battle
    • When an MRI Goes Badly
    • A Moment of Silence
    • Who Slew the Chicken?
    • The Dentist's Office
    • Owl Hijinx
    • Horse of a Different Colour >
      • Horse of a Different Colour Features & Specs
      • Horse of a Different Colour Photo Gallery
    • March of the Penguins
    • The Extraction >
      • The Extraction Media Gallery
    • Poultry in Motion
    • School's Out!
    • Pond Life >
      • Pond Life Photo Gallery
    • Rat Co. >
      • Rat Co. Employee Profiles
      • Rat Co. Photo Gallery
    • Happy Birthday Daddy! >
      • Happy Features & Specs
      • Happy Birthday Photo Gallery
    • The Raving Fans
    • The Waiting Room >
      • Waiting Room Photo Gallery
    • Cottage Cabernet
    • Neighbourhood Watch
    • Check Please!
    • Fishing >
      • Fishing Photo Gallery
      • The Mechanism
      • Brutus the Catfish
      • Crawford the Crayfish
      • Bigmouth the Largemouth Bass
      • Buddy the Chocolate Lab
      • Gertrude and Heathcliff
    • Ian's African Lion Safari
    • Call Before You Dig >
      • Features & Specs
    • Crossing The Mara >
      • Features & Specs
    • Migrating Caribou >
      • Features & Specs
    • Rocket Pack Raccoon
    • Urban Terrorists >
      • Exploring the Urban Terrorists
      • Features & Specs
    • Top Gun
    • Miss Communication
    • Hula Hoop Girl
    • Java Jane
    • The Cranky Caterpillar
    • A Case in Point...
    • The Leafs Score!
    • Enough With The Fish!
  • Learning Centre
  • Automata Store
  • Workshop Tour!
    • Sanding
    • Drilling
    • Cutting
    • Measurement
    • Carving Tools
    • Hand Tools
    • Working With Brass
    • Work & Assembly Areas
  • Mechanisms, Tip & Tricks
    • The Why and How Of It!
  • Who Am I?
    • Making Automata
  • Contact Me
  • In The News
  • Links
  • The South Bay Railway
    • Murray's Mill
    • Rivers, Creeks & Ponds
    • Early Days Photo Gallery
    • Layout Photo Gallery
    • Layout
  • Totems
  • Some Other Small Projects
    • Misc Projects
  • Driving Home for Christmas
    • Designing the Float
    • A Penguin Prototype
    • The Human Flock
    • The Float Penguins
    • The Float Video
  • Members Page