Bringing Movement to Life

Seventh grade Creators students have been bringing characters and scenes to life by building automatons, mechanical devices that give a human or animal figure the illusion of independent movement. The motion of the characters is deceptively simple: a dolphin that jumps and spins out of the water, a tennis ball hit back and forth between two players or a basketball player jumping up and down to shoot a spinning ball into a hoop. However, building the wheels, levers, and mechanisms that will enable the characters to move in the desired direction requires precision, testing, and continual refinement.

Students worked with partners to choose a theme for their automata or cam toy: a unique heritage, a sport, a meaningful story, or a sustainability goal. The design challenge required students to create a toy with two moving pieces, a static object, and two different types of motion, such as up and down, side to side, or spinning. First, students sketched out a design on paper, and then, using hand tools, they constructed their first automaton out of simple materials like cardboard, straws, and pipe cleaners. Design Teacher Deborah Morrone-Bianco showed students how incorporating different shaped cams in the mechanism of their design could produce a different motion, and students experimented with pear, offset, circular, and snail-shaped cams on their central skewer to get just the right motion for their character. 

Once the students have the automaton working as designed, they will add the finishing touches with the characters and scenery to complete the theme. This hand-cut version of their design is only the first iteration. Next, students will translate their automaton into a 2D design using a digital design program and the laser cutter. Finally, they will make a third version using a 3D design program and a 3D printer. “This will enable students to build the necessary skills for future projects as with each version, they are using more sophisticated materials and technologies,” says Deborah.