Clockworks: Self Assessment

Ideas and Originality

After researching various different mechanical toys/ automata, it became apparent that the simplest and therefore most common mechanism used to automate them was a basic cam system. The simplicity of them meant that the toys could come to life in interesting and entertaining ways whilst still being easy to manufacture and assemble. For this reason I chose to incorporate them into my initial idea of a wriggling snake. After creating sketches, I soon realized that a more realistic representation of a snake’s movement would be to have the snake’s body move horizontally rather than vertically. Because the cams relied on gravity to operate, they limited what I could actually make without designing a mechanism which would be far too complex to manufacture.

Instead I developed a mechanism that made use of a series of rack and pinions which would move the snakes “segments” side to side in alternating opposite directions. This was a much simpler approach than attempting to design a system that would work with the cams. A limitation of this was that the handle would have to be turned from side to side rather than in a continuous cycle. This would have made the toy more awkward and less enjoyable to use. I then designed an additional mechanism which would allow continuous rotation of the handle whilst still causing the snake to move from side to side.

I started off with the idea of just creating a toy snake that would operate alone but soon decided that the concept would be much more visually striking if it was designed to instead be a modular system that would work in conjunction with other toys. This idea came about when I realized that the scenery surrounding the snake could have more depth by placing more above and behind. I then thought that other toy creatures could be placed near the snake to create a nature scene. The idea developed to become a system of customizable modules that could be linked together, not only in a aesthetic aspect, but also mechanically so that all the animals would move at the same time.

Form and Aesthetics

Whilst I wanted to give the impression of a fairly realistic and easily recognizable snake, I also wanted to give a stylized appearance that would add a contemporary edge to the toy, creating appeal. To achieve this, I played on the segmented, mechanical body aspect by leaving it looking modular with clear gaps in between each part. This gave it an almost robotic appearance. Rather than trying to recreate a realistic snake pattern, I added simple and bold contrasting stripes which gave the toy a feel of childlike naivety, something which may help it appeal to kids.

Materials and Fabrication

To create my prototype of the toy, I used corrugated cardboard that I had left over from an Ikea box. This material was easy to cut and form to quickly create the rigid structure I required for the mechanism housing. Its flexibility meant that I could curve it to create the snakes segments and also allow it to move whilst being firmly held together. Wooden dowel was an appropriate material choice for the struts joining the mechanism to the snake as they were stiff and strong and so would provide a solid connection. The decorative aspects of the model were done using coloured markers. This gave it the bold colours it required.

Critisism

Whilst I think that my concept was original and interesting, I think that the model I made and therefore the video could have demonstrated more of the key features that set it apart from other mechanical toys. This could have been done by actually making a working mechanism rather than moving it by hand and also showing how other modules connect to it. An improvement would have been making a more professional video showing all aspects of the model and how it works and so I should work on my filming and video editing skills.