A Bit of Music

A bit of success just adds fuel to the fire, you know? I have three chickens dancing. What's next? A bit of music perhaps?

After some minor adjustments...

One vital lesson is to make sure to test the automaton when assembled. In theory, it should work but after testing, it became clear some minor adjustments were needed.  One chicken kept turning around and showing his behinnee when it needed to face forward. Also, one rod appeared to be looser than the others, which made another chicken swing from side to side instead of facing forward.

So, after some adjustments.....

Importance of Pre-planning

Here's an example of how pre-planning, even though thought out carefully, can run afowl (no pun intended) in hindsight. Once the gourd scraps and miniature spinner gourd were measured  and in place, the crank could not be turned a full rotation. It seems the miniatures spinner gourd, though small enough to fit, does not fit once the crank shaft is positioned off-center.

It was positioned off-center so the chicken's rod it associates with would be moved up and down. However, now the space above it will need to be ground out to allow clearance. The other option is to disassemble everything and start anew. Since wood glue was used, disassembling would entail completely destroying the whole thing and starting over. Better to make the patch repair by making space for the gourd to turn full circle and learn the lesson for the next automata.

Gourd Scraps as Gears

Upon reflection, it seemed appropriate to stay with gourds for the gears of this automaton since the chickens were gourds. Pieces of gourd scraps became two of the gears and one spinner gourd become the third one. The head of a miniature bottleneck gourd was used as the catch for the left side of the crank. The catch keeps the crank shaft from shifting out of position.

At this point, a crank handle is needed and a title. Automatons have a name, usually affixed to the front...a clever twist of words that can be a pun or ironic. That will take some thinking! When I figure something out, I will probably woodburn the words onto a blonde piece of gourd and attach it to the front like a trophy plate.

What title? The Three Amigos? Shakin' a Leg in the Barnyard? The Sky is Falling?

Carpentry Skills

Building the wooden deck for the automata has been a window into the unique skills a carpenter needs to produce a woodworking project. Sanding the edges smooth, grinding the dowels so they are indistinguishable from the surrounding wood was much easier using a belt sander. Doing it by hand was going no where fast...so to speak.

At this point, the deck and crank need to live up to the artistry of the chickens themselves.

Deck for the Automata

 Work has started on the foundation of the automata. Using pieces of walnut, the horizontal deck has been secured to side arms with bamboo dowels. The color difference will add visual interest to the 'cabinetry' of the piece. The joints and dowel heads will be sanded flat tomorrow when the weather is lovely and the work can be done outside.

In hindsight, the crank holes for each side should have been drilled before putting this together. By stacking the sides on top of each other, the drill could have done both holes at once. That way, the holes would be horizontal to each other. As of now, however, the sides will be attached to the base with dowels and glue, Then crank holes can be measured and drilled.

Starting simple..

It is so easy to conceive of elaborate automata actions!  I can think of all manner of crazy things my little gourd chickens can do but then I catch myself getting too complicated. Slow down, go simple, check out these high school technology student projects. They are simple, but make interesting entertainment.  Like the architect Louis Sullivan said, "less is more"!  [He was also famous for the words "form ever follows function", another thought to keep in mind when considering how the function of a gear follows its form...as the action follows the gear.]

Check out these simple projects from Griffith University...they are inspiring BECAUSE they are achievable. Others I find online are so multifaceted, it is overwhelming to consider a starting point!

Wormy Entrance

A worm could be added with a simple up and down, egg-shaped gear which produces a semi-circle arching movement.  It would need to be timed to be in sync with the bobbing chicken so that may be a little tricky. The goal is maintain simplicity.

Faisal Hoque says in his article, Why Simplicity is So Complex, "The key to solving complex problems may be to simplify as much as possible and approach them with a beginner's mind."  My favorite quote right now!

This Science of Conversation - if only a complex action could be put into my beginner's mind!

Feathers and Beaks

Feathers are added to give the chicken more movement as the individual gourds spin or jump. Color variations add visual interest.

Originally, I was considering doing a spin, a bobbing, and a jumping action. Since then I have learned a bit about eccentric and snail gears, and cranking actions. With an eccentric gear the 'center' hole for the turning shaft is off-center, giving a smooth up and down motion. Cutting the gear circle into more of a triangle or square shape but keeping the shaft hole in the center produces up and down motion, but more like a popping up and down....like jumping. That's the motion I want for one of these guys.

The spinning chicken is two gears running vertical to each other. The bobbing one is still hanging me up because I keeping thinking it needs something to bob after, like a worm coming out of the ground.

My Chickens Have Feet

At this point my chickens have feet and the start of beaks. I'm busy right now getting the research paper together. However, with a little effort each day I can get the chickens and gears together soon. I used chain for the legs so there is lots of movement when they spin and jump. The wings will be loosely connected with a jump ring so they flop around also

One of the problems so far has been making the gears. I have the design as shown in an earlier post, but I have been stubborn about trying to make them from the walls of gourds. I will have to abandon that concept for this first automaton and use plastic gears purchased from American Science Surplus.

These are 3 sets of snap-apart gears.