{"id":1495,"date":"2018-12-13T02:15:22","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T02:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wolfcatworkshop.com\/?p=1495"},"modified":"2018-12-25T21:25:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-25T21:25:02","slug":"interactive-totoro-piece-for-giant-robot-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wolfcatworkshop.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/interactive-totoro-piece-for-giant-robot-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Interactive Totoro piece for Giant Robot Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year Giant Robot had their 4th annual Totoro Show<\/a> and I was lucky enough to be invited. I wanted to make an interactive kinetic piece for a while and this was a good opportunity. If you want to see an in depth video about the process check out my talk with Donald Bell from Maker Project Lab on youTube.<\/a> He was very kind to have me on the show and we had a wonderful conversation that went over many details of this piece and the small automata<\/a> I made last year for makevember. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece is 8.5 in wide, 6.75 in tall and 2.25 in deep. Mostly constructed with laser cut 1\/8″ birch plywood with some small parts cut out from 1\/16″ birch plywood. It uses a single 30 rpm gear motor powered by an 18650 lithium ion battery housed in a case that includes a USB plug and charging circuit. Most of the axles where parts pivot are made with sewing pins and the wire for the mechanism is very similar to piano wire except I extracted from the bead of bicycle tires. It’s stiff wire with a thickness of about 0.9mm. The switch is wired to provide power to the motor whenever it’s actuated. The characters are hand-painted with acrylic paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really liked the scene where the Totoros and the girls are making the acorns grow at night. I didn’t include the humans in the final moving piece for sake of simplicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Inspiration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
First hand-cut prototype with paper pinned on foam core
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Working out the mechanism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I usually start this kind of project with some sketches and paper prototypes. First hand-cut, and then laser cut when I have some ideas on how to make it work. These pieces are pinned to foam core to work out the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Making the mount for the tiny 30 rpm gear motor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Assembly after laser cutting the pieces
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here is the initial assembly after cutting most of the parts, the orange stuff is masking tape .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rear view of the mechanism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Close up of the crank followers and guides<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t have a solid mechanical plan from the beginning. I started with the box and an idea and went from there. A lot of parts like the wire wide were added as the need arose, in this case the wire was drifting back and forth on the crank so I had to add a guide to keep it vertical. The sliders are lubricated with graphite powder which explains the grey stain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I simplified the arm motion compared to the initial prototype
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Side view, little Totoro has no arms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wrapped the switch cord in black para-cord to give it a less plasticky feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n