Creating geared automata figures has always been a complex process, mainly because you need to assemble them just the right way in order to get them to work properly – and even then, it’s not guaranteed.
That said, a team of Disney researchers may have found a system where the computational design of mechanical characters can actually be an effective process, using 3D printings and metal rods to make them come to life.
The designers behind the project played around with multiple configurations with gears of different sizes, setting up motions for particular objects, including parabolas, ellipses, and others. They stated, “A designer can then input an articulated character into the software system, select a set of actuation points on the character and sketch a set of curves to indicate the motion desired at each point. The system then draws upon the motion library to identify the mechanical assembly and its related set-up that best matches the desired motions. Simulation software then optimizes the assembly to achieve the animation envisioned by the designer.”
From there, once it’s assured that the gears won’t run into one another, the object can then be printed out with a 3D printer, and then set up with the rods.
The project is collaboration between Disney Research’s teams in Zurich and Boston, as well as ETH Zurich and MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. From what we’ve seen in the video below, it’s quite a successful one . . . though still in the works.
Source: TechCrunch
