Back to work – it’s great to be back!

I’m starting by completing a couple of open project, first, the Hippo that I was working on just before the family hols. I’ve put together a working prototype pictured here.

The box houses a couple of gears. The small gear is driven by a handle on the far side of the box. The larger gear runs at about a third the rotational speed of the small gear and is used to open and close the mouth.

Viewed from the other side of the box, the three lobed cam moves the small bird back and forth. The right hand cam lifts the mouth open slowly then does a couple of small lifts. Nom, nom nom.

The end result; turn the handle, the little bird moves quickly back and forth and the hippo sleepily opens and closes its mouth.

Looking good so far!