Tag: Mechanical

When it comes to telling time with an analog clock, the idea of gear reduction is a very critical piece of the puzzle. Basically, a set of multiple gears work in concert to gradually rotate at slower speeds.

Most of us know Tetris from the Game Boy version and that theme song is forever stuck in our heads. But when you play the game on a mechanical display, the sound it makes also very satisfying. A geek going by the name sinowin rigged up a small computer with a joystick and connected them to an old school elongated flip-disc display.

There are very few scenes in cinema history that are as cool and unique as the opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This, in a movie that is full of iconic scenes. In the 80s, kids everywhere were pretending that they were being chased by a boulder for years.

As further evidence that you can make anything with LEGO, we are now making minifigures puke their guts out on tiny amusement park rides. Check out this 3-axis LEGO Technic thrill ride made by LEGO enthusiast Shadow Elenter. The ride is called 3D Dizzy, and I have to say the details in this motorized build are impressive.

We need a better way to stir our coffee, people. You know why? because over 400 million plastic and wood coffee stirrers are thrown away every day. They go in landfills and also end up in that giant floating island made of trash, that sits between California and Hawaii.

I’d like to think that at some point in the evolution of Transformers, they looked as cheesy as this car one from Brave Robotics, Asratec Corp, and Sansei Technologies. The contraption is called the J-deite RIDE, which I think might translate to “Shitty Transformer.”

Digital display technology has pretty much replaced the need for those old mechanical signboards they used to have at airports and train stations back in the day. But there was something about the wonderful sounds they made as the letters and numbers flipped over that was tremendously satisfying.

We’ve seen some pretty cool mechanical LEGO creations over the years. Here’s another one worth checking out. I was recently turned onto the work of LEGO expert builder Yoshihito Isogawa by the fine folks over at The Kid Should See This.

Lasers are always fun and this project is no exception. What you’re looking at is a hand-cranked device made from 3D printed parts, designed to project a pattern by quickly moving a laser. It was created by Los Angeles software developer Evan Stanford. When the handle is cranked, a set of custom-cut cams move the laser slightly to create a light pattern on the wall.

Sure, it’s about five months early for Dia de los Muertos (aka Day of the Dead), but that’s okay. It doesn’t matter what day it is when an automaton sugar skull made out of LEGO pieces shows up in your browser.

Bellingham, Washington artist Ivan Owen of Danger First has created a pair of really large and really awesome mechanical hands. What impresses me the most is how detailed they are and how well they move. He calls them “Gepetto’s Folly,” and created them with a laser cutter using wood, leather, steel, and brass.

The next evolution of chess is here. Square Off is a smart, connected, and digital chess board set that moves pieces across the board automatically. Now this isn’t the first time there’s been a chess set with automated pieces, but this one can be controlled by a remote player. Play against anyone in the world (or the AI) and their pieces will move on the board as if you are playing against a ghost.

We’ve seen our share of complicated clocks, but we’ve never seen anything like Felix Vorreiter’s FLUX 1440. This clock displays the time using a simple pulley system, and over 3,900 feet of white string. The white string is covered in what looks like random marks, but they are anything but random.

Some people build simple stuff using K’Nex, but others like to build huge contraptions like this. This is The Citadel, a huge K’nex ball moving machine built by YouTuber Shadowman. It took him about 3 years to build it. The machine features more than dozens of unique sections, lifts, and mechanisms that separate balls into 17 different paths.

Who knew that watching gears move could be so soothing? These “Magic Gears” created by puzzle designer Oskar van Deventer will hypnotize and mesmerize you. Magic Gears Grid is a plaything made of a number of unusual looking gears.

YouTuber Daniel Perdomo and his friends made one of the coolest video game replicas of the year so far. It’s a physical replica of the classic game PONG. It’s basically a magnetic, mechanical version of air hockey. The ball moves back and forth not due to the force from the paddles but because of a magnet below the glass surface.