Animated Dog

[Alan CharlestonParticipant @alancharleston78882]

Hi,

This has turned up on the local auction site. It looks like an interesting project.

It says, “This is a mechanical dog as you turn the crank below the dog leaps into action and uses all the mechanical moving systems used by humans and animals ”

Anybody done something similar?

Regards,

Alan C.

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Hi Can you do a video please as it intrigues me.

David

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Nice one! I wonder where it came from?

It would not have been easy to design.

[Alan CharlestonParticipant @alancharleston78882]

Hi David,

No video – it turned up on the local NZ auction site.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/antiques-collectables/art-deco-retro/home-decor/other/listing/5726199794

I think there is probably a subset of model engineering which does things like this but I can’t find a reference to it. I’ve seen a related article which is a wind vane with a propellor on it which drives a mechanism which resembles a man chopping wood. I’d quite like to make one but I’m not sure how to go about it.

Regards,

Alan C.

[Andrew CrowParticipant @andrewcrow91475]

Hi Alan, the man chopping wood is available from various places on the Internet, tried to send a link with a photo but failed.

However, it would appear to be driven by a propeller with a crank at the other end attached to the figure which is fixed at the feet and jointed at the hip.

Andy.

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

This one on Instructables

John

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

The windmill driving a figure is quite common in various forms.

The most common seems simply to be of a man turning the propellor!

For that he is jointed at the hip and shoulders, his hands bearing on the crank-handle, his feet fixed to the base-plate.

The figures I’ve seen are quite two-dimensional, with the limbs both sides of a plate body, but both pairs sometimes single parts of clevis form so everything moves in unison.

I’d suggest designing such mechanisms is by analysing the centre-line and joint loci, then putting the figure around those. You can test the basic centre-line design in strip form by a CAD model that allows rotation, or by simple card-strip models. (Years ago we’d have all suggested “Meccano”!)

This model dog though is quite a bit more advanced than those simple “wind-mill” ornaments.

[Alan Charleston]

On Alan Charleston Said:

[…] I think there is probably a subset of model engineering which does things like this but I can’t find a reference to it. […]

MayI suggest ‘Animatronics’

MichaelG.

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

Another one from Instructables

3D printed robo-dog

John

[Alan CharlestonParticipant @alancharleston78882]

Thanks for the “Animatronics” suggestion Michael. This seems more to do with lifelike models for movies. A search for “Make Automata” however is more in line with what I’m after.

Regards,

Alan C.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

You’re right, of course, Alan

… Glad you found what you were looking-for

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Watch the Life-Like Motion of This Wooden Hummingbird Automaton

MichaelG.

 

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[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I think there is a significant difference between Animatronics and Automata – the clue being in the names.

 

Automata have been around since Classical Greek times, because they are purely mechanical, perhaps with some basic hydraulics.

One example often cited was the temple doors that magically opened after the sacred fire on the altar had been lit. The concealed “works” were air heated in a sealed vessel pushing water into another vessel that acted as a weight attached via cords and pulleys to the doors.

Others are the quarter-jacks on late-Mediaeval church clocks; and the stiffly-animated conductor figurine on some fairground organs.

 

Animatronics are modern, with as the name implies, largely electrical and electronic drive. They are or were used commercially in films but also for some shop displays.

 

So rather different skills involved, but looked at simply as amateur engineering challenges, both worthwhile in their own right.

[Nigel Graham 2]

On Nigel Graham 2 Said:

I think there is a significant difference between Animatronics and Automata – the clue being in the names.

 

[…]  both worthwhile in their own right.

Quite so, Nigel

My suggestion was simply a broad-brush response to Alan’s query:

[…] I think there is probably a subset of model engineering which does things like this but I can’t find a reference to it. […]

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Ferinfo …

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/animatronics-world-review#

MichaelG.

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

You may find this YouTube channel of interest Alan. https://www.youtube.com/@mechanicalOlly1977/videos

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