- If you want something to happen at a specific time (soundtrack, for
example), watch where the cams are, mark them at the moment, and use a
lever to make the action happen (~25:00)
Where we started
- Process: need to explain the process to participants to avoid chaos
- Work around a horseshoe table
- Step-by-step instruction
- pick a mechanism
- cut cams
- cut followers
- put them together
- demarcation between participants and facilitators: maximize
facilitator access to everybody
- example automata labeled with the movement, open on front and back
• slice a medium box into smaller
open boxes
- now working with a round table
- ask people to put together the box first
• train people to use the hot glue
gun
• glue support corners
• starting point unrelated to
figuring out the mechanism
- think about a mechanism or think about a narrative idea or element
that you want to incorporate
- not starting everybody at the same time makes facilitating people on
their timing
Welcoming participants
- example table
- people can decide whether they want to participate
- history of where automata came from
• books and resources
- examples from facilitators and from former participants
- people too young to participate can play with the examples
- if there are too many participants people can gather info to build
one at home
- themes emerged based on examples that were out
- examples should inspire an idea of motion but not something people
try to explicitly copy
- too complicated examples aren't appropriate
- simple mechanism examples
• simple shaped cams
• top was an arrow suggesting the
motion without being too explicit
• consistent in style: easy to
pick out from a very messy table
• multiple ways of making the same
motion happen
Innovations as we prototyped
- Stencils
• cams and cam followers
• different shapes
• eases the process
• encourages testing different
shapes
- Paper straws
• won't melt with hot glue
• noticeable for examples because
people notice it
• can wrap masking tape around
plastic straw
- 2 dogs automata
• 2 different followers gives
models two different speeds
Facilitating
- train to build them on their own
- draw what was inside a covered example
- build an automata
- hot glue gun training and facilitating
- time and space to make a deeper exploration of ideas
- about 45 minutes - 2 hours typically spent building an automata
- ready cart with materials
- curate examples
- exhibit for younger kids to do (enforcement of age limits on the
activate, age 10 and above)
• younger kids could still engage
with the ideas
Prototyping an exhibit
- First prototype
• looks like cardboard
• based on Cabaret Mechanical
Theatre kit
• interchangeable cams
• crank
• shaft to arrange cams (note that
the shaft is square)
• designed to be unfacilitated
(graphic is work in process)
- Materials
• laser cut cams: not most robust
over time but great for prototyping
- Hinged top
• lid extends a little to make it
obvious that it opens and provide a hand hold
- Cams
• square holes keep them from
spinning freely on the shaft when the crank is turned
- Example pieces
- Grooved cam follower
• this follower would stay on an
irregular shaped cam as it was cranked
Srishti School of Art, Design, and Technology
- Materials
• wire
• tire spokes
• wood
• boxes
• paper mache
• simple circuits, LEDs, switches,
copper tape
- Start with a simple set of materials so you don't get bogged down or
frustrated
- Experiment with linkages
• attach pieces
• look for movement in what they
create
• cards stuck to it to emphasize
movements, de-emphasize the connections
- Diagram before you start
• diagram, make, diagram, make
again
• helps you see where you might
add a light or switch
- Girl
• linkages
• movement of the hand and hat
- Dragon form
• crank
• bent wire
• watching the pieces move and
deciding what could happen there
- Elephant
• small circuit lights up the eye
when things touch
• trying to understand what a
switch is, a prototype of a circuit
- Fish
• LED and buzzer
- Process
• making, think about it and draw,
making again
• where does the crank touch the
wire to complete the circuit?
• the process of how the circuit,
the crank works and what can I do next
• the guitarist has a speaker that
makes a sound
- Printmaker automata
• rolls ink
• insert a paper and it prints on
it
Automata @ The Hall
- participants met by a facilitator, provided examples and tips
- choose a motion (based on mechanics examples from Exploratorium)
- examples created by visitors give examples of what you can put on top
- pre-cut foam cams
- self-directed workflow
- receive a lot of information up front
- collaborative environment
- facilitators troubleshoot and assess movement, ask open-ended
questions to help people get unstuck
- parents are co-learners
- glue gun stations are intentionally separate
- Prototype to minor facilitation
• doesn't work great, requires
some tinkering
• flexible: cams, shafts can go
anywhere
• rubber cams with square hole,
sticks and grips against other cams, but has a curvature that never
goes away, so they had to use washers
• brass tubes replace straws
• not whimsical at all, industrial
• creative part people are making
does pop out
• activation barriers that
required a facilitator to work through
- Explore mechanisms rather than build and automata: the process of
building an automata can sometimes be unsuccessful
- Emphasize the iterative nature of the project
- Don't push to each step, wait until they have a question or issue
they want to solve
• people need to spend the time to
understand the mechanism, troubleshoot, think about how they can change
the design
• people can puzzle through it and
desire to puzzle through it
- Don't facilitate step-by-step
• "I don't know what to do!" Point
out an example and have them make one part of the example
• be comfortable with things not
working out for a while
- Circle around to draw out the people hesitant for asking for help
- Provide comparative models
- Prototyping with cardboard to check linkages, cams, levers
- Teaching a child how to make an automata
• simple up and down movement,
with example
• help by cutting out pieces
• when she got stuck make
suggestions about things to change
- Link moving objects to stationary objects to get animation
Advice
- You can do a lot with a few simple movements
- Start with a push pull, put a bird on top and get its wings to move,
move on to cam and follower
- Start simple and add
- Push a lever up and down with your finger, how do you get rid of the
finger
- Children learn from one another and by sharing
• draw and share
• build and share
- You can make an automata out of things you already have
• cereal box
• skewers
• lids
- Simple to get going and to increase in complexity
- Dog
- Don't rush the process
- Keep it simple
- Make it interesting
- Start in 2D and build to 3D
• play around with linkages
- If you find yourself saying, "I could never do that," that is the
idea to spend time exploring
