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Al's Automata Blog

Exciting News!

1/27/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
Conquergood Creative has been selected to exhibit automata creations at the Ontario Science Centre's Tech Art Fair on Family Day weekend Feb 17th to the 19th. It is a great opportunity to share my craft with a large number of visitors and a great compliment to have my work selected by a panel of judges to be exhibited at the show.

So if you are in the neighbourhood and would like to see my exhibit, and 19 others, showing all sorts of Techie art stuff, do drop buy!
1 Comment

Parading along!

1/23/2018

3 Comments

 
Again I'm sorry I have not blogged in a while. A Christmas vacation, a waterpark excursion with the grandkids, and general sloth slowed me down a little over the holiday period. I have been busy building a section of my parade float though. I haven't been posting that because I felt you wouldn't find it very interesting if you are following my blog for automata knowledge. Anyway I am just completing the mechanism and characters for one section of the float and I think it's time to return to complete the automata project  was working on prior to charging off into the float stuff.

Working with polystyrene to cut and shape the penguins has been interesting. I often emerge from my shop coated in static electriclly charged small pieces of foam. Mix in the overspray from some spray adhesive and you have a mixture that is hard to vacuum!  I decided I need to purge the shop and myself of polystyrene residue for a while. The vignette I've done is a trio of penguins, ranging in height form 27" to 32" tall that are waddling along the side of the float. They don't actually move forward but tip side to side in the motion of penguins. Along with a little scenery this will occupy one back corner of the float. 

The motion is imparted by what I call my "waddle box", a plywood construct that will drop in the float with a motor gearbox, and rocker arms to mount the penguins on. It looks crude but it will serve the purpose of being sturdy enough to survive the rocking weight while only needing to last a few hours for a parade. It wouldn't be good if pieces of penguin where flying off into the assembled spectators!  Each of the penguins opens and closes their mouth as if singing "Drivin' Home for Christmas" the theme song for the float.

I made the penguins by generating a 3D image in CAD, and cutting polystyrene disks to laminate pieces together to make an approximate profile. These pieces have a hole up through the centre to allow for passage of control wires to the beak. Once assembled it is onto shaping by cutting and sanding these forms to a smooth finish. (This is where the mess is generated.) 

I've attached a couple of photos to look at and I will followup with an operating video when paint is complete. In the "waddle Box" photo you can see the motor and gearbox behind the belt guard and the rockers which have a black PVC pipe that fits up into the bodies of the penguins. The penguins, (Patty, Maxene and LaVerne, ) have one coat of primer paint on them at this point. The little one has a squarish looking head since the beak mechanism was a tight fit and I was reluctant to sand too much off the head. The odd shape will be hidden by a well placed Santa hat when completed.

Here is an early preview of the girls.
Picture
Under construction, including my drill press vice for weight! my "Waddle Box" in the background
Picture
The three girls, the smallest with the odd head shape in the front.
Picture
The "Waddle Box" with mount tubes for the penguins.
3 Comments

    Why Automata?

    Automata is a creative blend of my life interests , engineering, art  and woodworking. 

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Conquergood Creative
Home     Contact    About   
  • Automata Blog
  • Home
  • Tubing The River Styx
  • DJ's Bee Bop Palooza
    • Roles of Bees in a Hive
    • The Bee Bop Characters
  • Automata Gallery
    • Swimming With The Dolphins
    • A Boat, A Boy, And A Dog
    • The Invisible Audiophile
    • Black Bear Bliss
    • Parking Lot Wars
    • 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