In this project our objective was to purchase a working toy so that we could take it apart and create something new out of it. We could add micro bits to it to have the new toy do something new. Most people including myself went and got a stuffed animal that moved. I got a Stuffed rabbit that moved its cheeks back and forth like it was chewing on something it also made a chewing sound when the button is pushed. When we showed up to class we got four pieces of paper on the first one it wanted us to sketch out the outside of our toy before we start to take it apart. We also needed to draw what we thought the inside of the toy would look like to see if what we thought it would look like will match with how it actually looks. After that we began to take apart our toys.
In my toy the battery pack is in the back so I decided to start back there as well as because that is where the seam is. I used a seam ripper so that I didn't have to cut the actual toy apart. I cut the entire seam to where I could see the motor I then cut out the motor, battery pack, and button. After this I could sew up the rabbit and it would still function as a stuffed animal. We were next supposed to sketch what the motor actually looked like and compare what it looks like to what we thought it was going to look like. I then began to sketch ideas of what I wanted to make out of my toys motor. I at first thought about making the flapping part of my motor into wings but I felt that that would be to simple so I kept brainstorming and I came to the realization that the movement of the motor is the same as the movement as the arms on a lie detector. So I sketched out how I would design my new item around what I already have which is my motor. I gathered cardboard together to create the structure. I created a 6x12 box to be the base of the machine then built a small box around the motor mechanism to hide it other than the arms. I placed rails along the side of the big box so that I could raise the small box off of the base. I wanted it raised so I could run paper through the machine. On what are going to be the hands I glued two pieces of charcoal to them so that they will write when I run a piece of paper through it. I then glued the switch next to the motor then I glued the speaker to the side of the base and glued a piece of cardboard over the speaker to make the sound quieter. I also created a arm harness out of cardboard to make it seem more like a lie detector. I will manually run a piece of paper through my machine while the arms draw lines on the paper that resemble that of a lie detector test. After I had finished my creation I sketched my final creation and I compared it to what I originally sketched and see if my idea changed along the way. After reviewing my before and after sketches not much changed other that that I added the rails along the sides of the base. I feel I must add that its not a real lie detector its a toy that in the grand scheme of things just draws lines but I added an ascetic around it that gives the impression of a lie detector.
There was a vast variety of different things that my class created. There were people that made there toy into animals for example one student turned there toy into a bird but a lot of students created monsters out of there toy. one student created a cat toy and another student created a helicopter out of a stuffed cat. Another student created a mechanical duster out of their toy. As you can tell there is a lot of variety in what your imagination can come up with and create in this project. On our last day of class we all showed our creations to the class. Coming into the project we knew that it was possible that our final creation might not work but everyone's ended up working a few people had a couple issues along the way but in the end they ended up working.
It would be fun if we were to make a series like this. For example I could make a bunch of recreations of household items from the motors in toys. One thing that I think would be perfect to make for this would be a toaster. All I would need to find is a toy that has an up and down motion that I could use as the mechanism that pops the toast up from inside the toaster. I would make the shell of the piece from cardboard and make it lift up where I could put the motor in it.
