Starting the Automata - work in progress.

Pu

This is a project long in the thinking stage. Basically it's an animated, interactive display, modelled on the animated tableau that used to be in seaside amusement arcades. They're all gone now - although there's a fine collection in Rye at the Heritage centre.

The plan for this one is to make a working fortune teller, although if it looks anything like these pictures then it will be a surprise. The visible part will be an animated puppet, and the hidden controls will be based on servos and probably controlled by an Arduino or a Crumble - I like the Crumble because it's simple and cheap, although it may not have the versatility to do what I want it to do.

These sketches are just trying to work out a prototype. Brought some balsa wood yesterday to make one up and trying to decide what it should look like. Was going to use ceramics for the puppets, but clay is just far too heavy.

In case you're wondering how the puppet will tell your fortune, you'll have to wait for a later blog post when I've worked out some technical details.