The Story of "The Trojan Cat"
I had thought that a whimsical variant on the story of the Trojan Horse might make an interest project. The challenge would be to hide part the mechanism in the body and the legs, driven by an another actuating mechanism in the base. Originally I experimented with a wooden, hand-driven reversing mechanism, but it was a suitable configuration or dependable.
Ultimately I swallowed my ideals and decided that some form of automation might be better suited. I opted for an Arduino board to control motors and servos to move the characters. Turns out i'm not as clever as I thought and at the time of this web page posting, the Trojan Cat is still not programmed a totally independent operation. So if you are an Arduino specialist looking for a fun project, give me a shout! |
So here is the story of the "Trojan Cat"automata . It is repeated in the video for those who find their way to video directly from youtube.
The Verlum County Cheese Company had an infestation of mice that was eating into their profits So they hired an exterminator to address the problem. The mice fled the factory. days later with the exterminator gone, the mice attempted to reenter the facility. To their dismay all the nooks and crannies that had allowed them to originally get into the plant had been plugged. Desperate, they recalled how the Greeks used the Trojan Horse to gain access to the city of Troy and decided to employ a similar trick. They are hopeful that their Trojan Cat will be mistaken for a friendly neighbourhood Feline and will be taken into the cheese factory as additional help to keep the mice population down. Inspired by the presence of a local LARP park they get a little over enthusiastic, sporting Greek armour for the event.
The Verlum County Cheese Company had an infestation of mice that was eating into their profits So they hired an exterminator to address the problem. The mice fled the factory. days later with the exterminator gone, the mice attempted to reenter the facility. To their dismay all the nooks and crannies that had allowed them to originally get into the plant had been plugged. Desperate, they recalled how the Greeks used the Trojan Horse to gain access to the city of Troy and decided to employ a similar trick. They are hopeful that their Trojan Cat will be mistaken for a friendly neighbourhood Feline and will be taken into the cheese factory as additional help to keep the mice population down. Inspired by the presence of a local LARP park they get a little over enthusiastic, sporting Greek armour for the event.
"The Trojan Cat" Video
"The Trojan Cat" Photo Gallery
A collection a few photos of the project from the construction to completion.