cams, cranks, and links, oh my

If you were pumped after watching the Ganson video and are interested in more than blinks or getting more from a motor than circular action, here’s a link for basic cams, levers, gears, etc. It’s a quaint automata site, but informative. Flying Pig is also great. All of these could be coupled with triggers, cranks, or a motor and connected to Arduino, sensors, etc.

I’m interested in providing easily understood cues for interaction, like a crank, but then subverting the expectations of that interaction, something I explored in some older work, like this piece, which uses a crank to drive gears, switches, and contacts. It was just light circuit bending of some digital audio recorders, but the speakers used rotary contacts (similar to trolleys pulling power from lines) which was way too complicated, and barely worked. In hindsight I wished I had used a geneva drive, but I wasn’t aware of it at the time. Anyway, I just thought I’d share some fodder for those interested in exploring ways to get more physical phenomenon.

Also some other online discount electronics resources, are All Electronics and Electronic Goldmine. I’m also a fan of American Science and Surplus, but it’s totally hit or miss, both in stock and product quality/type. Their product descriptions are entertaining, though.