PROJECTS: Toy Inventor’s Notebook
Some of the drums even have added gearing and
five left/right pointer positions for slow/fast speed
control. Spring-loaded clutches prevent stripping
gears or stalling the motor when you bump into
something (or your little brother grabs it).
At the same time, another gear train from the
same motor also turns a worm gear for a big
reduction in RPM to work the countdown timer.
The Energy Level bar graph drum with number
wheel shows how much energy (time) is left until
the power to the motor is automatically cut off
by a mechanical switch. Better hurry — can you
complete your robot arm mission before time
runs out?
Check out this YouTube video (youtu.be/
zCiyR8s1vCo) to see the insides of the Armatron
in action!
There is a passionate, dedicated fan base for
the classic Armatron. Longtime Make: contributor
I-Wei Huang even hacked his Armatron (Figure
N
)
to create a Maker Faire-worthy steam-powered
version! crabfu.com/steamtoys/steam_armatron
The closest toy robotic arm available today is
OWI’s Robotic Arm Edge kit. It uses five separate
This patent drawing shows only a small
part of the Armatron’s gear trains!
112 makezine.com
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