Cardboard Motor

This is the most recent experiment I've done with wind-up toy mechanisms. Completely made out of cardboard, this is the greatest success I've had with kinetic work. It runs for 6 seconds! haha... As I state on my website, apart from the traditional graphic design work I do, I am very interested in making art more interactive. I have been working on wind-up toy mechanisms for five months now, and continue to learn new things following each failure! Eventually I want to make massive three-dimensional dioramas that combine moving text and image with music to tell short stories. Many people have been asking me lately what these things do that I'm building. Nothing yet! However, I truly believe that if I am able to refine the design of these "motors" to a point where I can use them effectively and move on to the most critical aspect, a design aesthetic and purpose, that I will be able to make some interesting work.





The ratchet device that I came up with in this particular mechanism works really well, it is the greatest success of the prototype. The purpose of the ratchet is so that the gears do not engage each other until the mechanism has been powered by the user.