instructables

Automaton Butterfly

by Amit_Jain

In this instructable, I will share how I made a simple
automaton butter y by reusing cardboard box and
some skewers. Go way to spend time with your kid
during lock down.
An automaton is a self-operating machine or control
mechanism designed to automatically follow a
predetermined sequence of operations or respond to
predetermined instructions.A known exmaple would
be mechanical clocks. Automaton is commonly
associated with automated puppets that resemble
moving humans or animals, built to impress and/or to
entertain people. (Wikipedia)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0scF2nvvTs

Step 1: What Do We Need ?

Automaton Butterfly: Page 1

 Cardboard box
Wooden Skewers
Fevicol or PVA glue
Cutter
Scissors
Sketch pen

Step 2: Butterfly

Draw butter y wing on a piece of cardboard

Cut two wings and body of the butter y
To attach the wings and body, I have used paper tape, keeping 1 mm gap between the body and the
wings
I applied paper tapes on both sides, this works like a hinge
Draw / color the wings of the butter y as desired

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Step 3: Box

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Using a thick cardboard sheet cut
2 pieces of 5" x 2.5"
3 pieces of 3.5" x 2.5"

I used 5 ply cardboard sheet , if you do not have this thick cardboard, stick two pieces of the
cardboard
Using PVA glue or fevicol, glue all walls and partition in place as shown above
Leave it to dry for 1 hr
Once dried, you will notice that the box may be still wobbly
To x the wobble, I added two right angled triangles at the bottom of the box as shown

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Step 4: Gear

To make the gear, I cut 2 pieces of a 2" (diameter) circle

Glue them together and leave it to dry for 30 minutes
Fix a skewer, at an o set from it's center as shown
Do not glue the gear yet..

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Step 5: Gear Assembly

Drill hole on the two sides at a height of 2"

Fix a wooden skewer with the gear and glue it in place
Adjust the length on the skewer
Add a handle on one side and stopper on the other

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Step 6: Strings

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We need 3 pieces of skewers
Out of these 2 are static, they keep the wings in place
While the body is attached to a longer skewer, the other end is attached to a cardboard piece with
some weights on it.
Since the wings are made of cardboard, the joints works as a hinge
One can actually replace with good hinge mechanism
Since the gear is not xed at it's center, it pushes the body attached on the middle skewers, up.
And the weight, pulls the body down, giving the apping motion of the wings

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Step 7: Tips

There may be too much friction between the gear and the middle skewer
I tried sanding
Paper tape
Reducing o set from center of the gear

The static skewers needs proper hinge

I hope you make one with your kid and play with it..

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