Assignment: Make a mechanism in a box that connects two opposing rods and survives exploration by kids.

The second project for my Design for Fabrication class was to construct a box toy that allowed for two opposing rods to control each other, meaning that pulling/pushing on one would mirror the movement onto the other rod. The toy was meant to be a hidden mechanism for kids, meaning that one surface had to be completely opaque, while the other one had to be transparent to show the mechanism.

I decided to give myself a few extra goals for this project. First, I wanted to allow the rods to spin freely, which meant I had to be creative about how I would fasten them to the transmission system. Second, I wanted to use all 3 of the fabrication methods available to me - 3D printing, laser cutting, and woodworking. Third, I wanted to make it visually and ergonomically pleasing.

I used 3/8" maple dowels for the rods. The outer frame was fabricated using the tablesaw and drill press, and the trasmission arm (blue) in the middle was laser cut out of 3mm acrylic. The connection points for joining the rods and the arm were 3D printed to clamp loosely around the rod without restricting rotational motion. The clear cover was fastened magnetically to allow for easy removal for maintenance or demonstration.

box toy front
box toy back