kinetic Art

Fog Globe: Golden Gate Bridge

Get a fog globe here:

From eBay: BUY NOW: Fog Globe

Fog Globe: an ideal souvenir for a San Francisco winter- snow is very rare (1976 recoded one inch downtown) but prolonged fog marks the winter season. The “fog” in this globe consists of small glitter particles of uniform density that can be agitated into temporary suspension and then allowed to settle on the bottom giving the impression of dissipating fog. The particles settle out over the span of a couple minutes and at regular rate since they are fairly uniform and the drag force experienced by the particles depends on the size and weight of each.

Hoberman Actuator with Sphere

The Actuator mechanism is out of production but can still be found on eBay, comes with power supply, Expandagon kit, and connecotors that snap on to a Hoberman Spjere. 
From eBay: BUY NOW: Hoberman Actuator

The spheres are still in production and come in various sizes and colors: 
From Amazon: BUY NOW Hoberman Spheres 

Hoberman Actuator with Sphere: This actuator mechanism creates kinetic art out of a Hoberman sphere, designed to smoothly expand and contract the isokinentic structure. The Hoberman sphere itself is a special assembly of foldable linkages consisting of rigid bars and simple hinges is kinematically over constrained- motion can only occur along the radial direction and the movement of any hinge creates motion in all the joints. The engineering and physics behind deployable space structures!

3D Print Planetary Gearset

Similar 3D prints available as fidget toys here:

From Etsy: BUY NOW: Gear Spinner Fidget Toy

Or print it yourself! (.stl files are available here):
From Thingverse:
Emmett Lalish Download: Gear Bearing 
Refined version featured here by Don Stewart Download: Honeycomb Gear Bearing 

3D Print Planetary Gearset: amazingly this gear set is printed assembled, with interlocking herringbone teeth. The gears will not come apart, in fact this design can only be accomplished by 3D printing the gears interlocked with each other. Designed and first printed by Emmett Lalish in 2013, and this version with refined precision and honeycomb by Don Stewart. 


Dual Spiral Kinetic Art

Here are some available kinetic illusions that operate on the same principle: 
From Amazon: BUY NOW Spiral Spinner Illusion 
From eBay: BUY NOW Spiral Spinner Illusion 

Dual Spiral Kinetic Art: hanging by fishing line, thick gauge steel wire is shaped into connected helixes- a pair twisting clockwise and a single coiled counterclockwise. When spinning the rotational motion creates translational motion both upwards and downwards along the vertical direction, and also the striking illusion that the quartz sphere is climbing or descending.

Micro Mirror Interactive Art Memo Pad

My freind Tim Rowett over at Grand Illusions Ltd. has this item in stock:

From Grand Illusions Ltd: BUY NOW: Love/Hate Micro Mirror Art
Also availble in South Korea: BUY NOW: Love/Hate Micro Mirror Art

Micro Mirror Interactive Art: mirrors as pixels- the "love/hate" memo pad by Luycho. The displayed message is the product of 1280 tiny square mirrors (dimensions 2.0 x 2.5 mm), where each mirror is angled to reflect a specific part of the memo pad below. Alter the distribution of colors on the pad and the message on pixel array can change between the two options.

The eTOP

Get this and other beautifully crafted math themed tops here: 

Fropm Etsy: BUY NOW: The eTOP

The eTOP: an ellipsoid based on the famous Euler’s constant e, diameter 2” and thickness 2/e”- spinning magnets from the magnetic stirrer induce electric currents to flow in the copper eTOP- these currents then create their own magnetic field which opposes the magnets underneath and pushes the eTOP to spin, producing interesting motion and sound. Credit to astrophysicist Kenneth Brecher, the creator of the eTOP, PhiTOP, and this unique means of using Lenz’s Law to spin it up. This top stands up vertically (when spun with sufficient rotational velocity) due to physics similar to that of the tippe-top. The concave mirror keeps the top from wandering off of magnetic stirrer. 


Zoetrope

Get a similar affordable Zoetrope from these sources:

From Etsy: BUY NOW: Zoetrope 

From Amazon: BUY NOW: Zoetrope 

Zoetrope: the physics and psychophysics of motion animation- still images flashed in rapid succession produces the illusion of motion through persistence of vision. The slits are crucial to creating the illusion by blacking out the visual stimulus for a short duration- without these pauses only a blur is perceived. When the image flash rate is above the flicker fusion frequency (approximately 16Hz) we perceive fluid motion- the basis for all movies and TV. 

Water Drop Pulse Kinetic Sculpture

Art by Philippe Bouveret available here:
From the artist: BUY NOW philippebouveret.com 

Water Drop Pulse Kinetic Sculpture: “Heart In A Bottle” is a kinetic art sculpture by Philippe Bouveret that utilizes the amazingly strong surface tension and adhesive properties of water. Two halves of a heart are attached to a wire spring which is periodically pulled together in a zipper like fashion by a single drop of water (as seen in 240 flp slow motion). The engineered system in the top bulb emits a water drop that adheres to the two wires, and as it falls surface tension pulls and connects the spring wires, which stay stuck together until gravity pulls down and thins the water coating enough such that the spring force can overcome the water’s adhesion. The halves of the heart then undergo vibrations that damp out until another drop forms in a process that repeats a few times a minute. 

Tensegrity Icosohedron Toy: The Skwish

Available here in a variety of colors and wood types:

From Amazon: BUY NOW: Kwish Tensegrity Toy

Tensegrity Icosahedron Toy: an architectural engineering inspired toy for tots- believe it or not this design is sold as a toy for babies: the Skwish rattle by the Manhattan Toy Company. Six wood struts float isolated from each other but held in a stable configuration by a net of 24 connecting elastic cords. This configuration of three sets of parallel struts forms a Jessen’s icosahedron under tension, and was invented by the famous architect Buckminster Fuller in 1949. A physics toy for ages 0 and up! 


Orbit Spinning Top

Get this 3D printed top here:

From Etsy: BUY NOW: Orbit Spinning Top

Orbit Spinning Top: asymmetric in shape but perfectly balanced about the rotation axis, this beautiful stainless steel 3D printed top will spin for a couple minutes. As the top slows down interesting aliasing arises as the angular velocity changes with respect to the frame rate of the camera. 

Mini Waving Tube Guy

Get this inexpensive and silly toy here:

From Amazon: BUY NOW: Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Guy

This power supply reccomended: BUY NOW: 9V power supply

Mini Waving Tube Guy: the physics of fluid dynamics describes the flopping behavior of the famous dancing tube guy. Bernoulli’s principle tells us that when air is moving with a velocity, the pressure in the region of the moving airmass is reduced. When the tube guy stands strait, air escapes through his head and arms allowing a temporary steady velocity of flow which reduces pressure inside and he collapses and bends. When the tube is bent, airflow is cut off, and the tube inflates like a balloon building pressure until air can again escape through the top- and the process cycles back and forth between these two states creating the iconic dance moves. This desktop version uses a 9V battery to power the fan.


In-Feed Google 4

Uplift Kinetic Spiral

The second generation of this amazing device is now available here: 

From beuplifted.com: BUY NOW: Uplift 2.0

Uplift and Uplift 2.0: a spiral kinetic sculpture under glass, mounted on precision bearings and powered by light. The rotation is propelled silently by a simple and elegant bidirectional motor- a disk shaped copper coil impels an array of six neodymium magnets, powered by a single solar cell. The included hand held magnet allows one to select the direction of flow. 


Time's Up

Similar timers available from these sources: 
From eBay: BUY NOW 
Inverted Timer 

From Amazon: BUY NOW 
Inverted Timer 


Time's Up: inverse of the sandglass- tiny plastic beads are less dense than the water and thus ascend to the top of the container under the influence of a buoyant force in accordance with Archimedes' principle. This timer takes almost exactly 6 minutes to complete shown here at normal speed for the first half of this video, and the second half is condensed to 24 seconds in time-lapse. 

Oloids: Solid and Anit-oloid

Order your Anti-Oliod today: available in three types of metal:

From The Matter Collection: ORDER NOW: Anti-Oloids in Brass, Copper, and Steel 

Oloids: “solid hull” and “ruled surface” types made from brass and copper- oloids are unique solids that roll in such a way that every point on their surface comes in contact with the plane. The basis of the oliod’s geometry is that of two connected circles, one perpendicular to the other such that the rim of each circle goes through the center of the other. The shapes you see here are the results of connecting the rims of these circles together with a family of straight lines, one method leads to the solid convex hull form, and another way leads to the ruled oloid (anti-oloid). 

Floating Rings Illusion: Dr. Manhattan Booth

Created in my shop with these parts:

From Amazon: plastic rings, plastic sphere, blue paint

Inspired by the Phone Booths in the new Watchmen series.

Calling Dr. Manhattan: floating rings illusion device inspired by the recent Watchmen series. Two attached rings appear to roll in an impossible way around an orb, featured in a number of scenes on top of blue interplanetary phone booths in the new Watchmen series. Created in my shop with plastic rings and some blue spray paint.